


She is my mother you bastard

by hiimnew



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Maria Stark's A+ Parenting, Nick Fury Knows All, Phil Coulson Has the Patience of a Saint, Protective Nick Fury, Protective Phil Coulson, Protective Tony Stark, SHIELD, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, assassin maria
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2020-04-11 12:17:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19109500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiimnew/pseuds/hiimnew
Summary: Maria Carbonell is an eighteen year old assassin when she takes a job to take out Howard Stark it's a very easy job surprisingly but she didn't know a toddler would be there and left with no choice and a strange otherworldly instinctual urge she takes the child and raises it as her own.





	1. No choice then

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know but maybe trigger warnings and I suck at writing

Tony is four when his mother is beaten to death by his side in the family home he's grown up by the man who was supposed to love and cherish her and left alone with this monster of a man whose slowly going insane cooped up in his own home paranoid over everything and anything. Three days pass before someone kills him after managing to sneak into the home which isn't a hard thing to do and shoots him in the head from behind, she's clearly not a nice lady since she's been sent here to kill his father but Tony even at four as smart as he is couldn't care about the man after everything he was put through. The lady is really young maybe eighteen or younger from what he can tell with dark brown curly hair tied into a messy bun with a fancy jeweled hair pin tucked into it, she has olive skin and big brown eyes, she's wearing a pair of tight black leather pants and a white button down shirt. She has lots of weapons on her too being knives, hand guns and a rifle across her back but she doesn't seem mean and is surprised that's he's there cowering in the corner afraid to be touched, so he watches as she kneels down and roughly rubs her face with one of her hands. 

"They didn't say there was a kid here" She growls to herself annoyed with whoever sent her here

"Thank you" Tony whispers still unable to stop his shaking but has calmed down a little

"How old are you?" She asks him looking him over she's a little rough sounding but she seems concerned 

"Four" Tony says holding up injured fingers to show her it makes her frown at the sight

"I'm Maria, what's your name?" She asks smiling softly trying not to seem to dangerous

"Anthony" Tony says relaxing a bit more a strange feeling in his chest urges him to trust her

"Will you come with me Tony" Maria says to him holding out her hand not too close though more of a question

Tony nods and lets her pick him up and carry him around as she begins searching the room pulling out papers which probably have things about him on them and money shoving them into a small bag on her side and then asks Tony to show her to his room. Tony leads the way from her arms until they are in his room where she packs a small backpack before she takes him out of the house via the back door connected to a blind spot and trips the alarm so that police will find the body confirming her job is done. She takes Tony back to a little room in an old building far away from home in the middle of the bad area in Malibu where she sets him down on a old mattress covered in blankets with a few pillows to look through a few things. Tony watches as Maria opens up a big guitar case and lays her guns inside before snapping it closed and locking it's latches then opens her big duffel bag and pulls out a smaller case laying down her knives her that too is closed and locked before it's put back in the bag. Once those things are stored she pulls out a first aid kit and begins to strip off her clothes pulling on a oversized tee over her bra and underwear before she comes over to Tony and sits in front of him with the first aid kit by her side. After a moment of thought she begins to pull off his clothes which are just a plain tee and soft shorts splattered with blood leaving him in his underwear on her bed but something about her calms every single instinct to be afraid of her. As Maria tends to his wounds Tony is captivated by this woman with long wavy hair messily perfect pushed to one side of her head and he notices now that she's wearing shiny studs in her ears with a big tattoo one her left thigh reaching down to her ankle of a fallen angel.

Maria takes her time lost in her own thoughts as she cleans up the very young child's wounds which were far too many for his little body and during that time she wonders how a strangers child could look just like her and as smart as his for his young age. Like Maria he's got olive skin clinging to baby fat with a wild messy of brown curls the same dark shade as hers and huge baby deer brown eyes that watch her in amazement like she's some kind of angel sent to get him but Maria knows she's no angel. Maria starts on the boy's face cleaning it first before she begins sticking band-aids on; one to his right temple, one to his right eyebrow, one to his left cheek bone, on to the left side of his jaw, two overlapping in the left side of his neck, on to the left collar bone, patches to his arms to cover more cuts and bad bruises, more band-aids to his fingers, a patch to the right side of his waist and more band-aids and patches to his legs. Once she's finished she throws his clothes into the discarded pile behind them where he old clothes sit and digs through the child's little backpack and pulls out a long sleeve black jumpsuit with a hood and helps the child into it. In the background it's minutes from dark illuminated by windows and street lights as sirens cry into the air muffled almost by the sound of night life, Maria pays it no mind as she puts a pair of tan boots on the child and a black beanie over his curls. Once he's dressed she closes up the bag and sets it down on the case as she begins to dig into her own bag and pulls out a pair of dark tight jeans and slips them on before she stuffs herself into a black hoodie and a grey beanie low onto her head. After putting her combat boots back on and zipping the bag closed she settles the strap on her shoulder cross body before slipping her arms into the cases straps and settles it on her back like a backpack before looking up from her knelled position looking back at Tony she finds him tipped over and asleep on the bed.

Maria sighs and straps the child's bag to her duffel bag and moving over to the bed she wraps Tony up in the blanket he has chosen to lay on before picking him up and cradling him in her arms as she leaves the room heading for the street below to catch a bus across country. She leaves behind their clothes, a phone and papers that swim across the old floor when the wind picks up pushing through the broken glass of the window now empty once again left for whoever decides to camp there nest. Maria walks down the streets wondering how this happened and why she's taken the child but now that she has him she won't ever let him go swearing to herself to keep him safe and raise him to take care of himself knowing others might come for him. Arriving at the bus station she purchases the tickets and sits down on the bench to wait checking the tickets that will take them to the next state and then they'll catch another until they get back to New York, she pays no attention to the looks and stares she's getting. All they see is a teenager with a toddler getting on a bus with bags, she must look like a run away from what she was running from was up to them, let them think it's better than having them think she's stolen the baby and running from her crime. 

Thankfully the bus doesn't take long and she moves to the very back settling Tony into the second seat while she sets down the bag and then picks him back up and sits down next to the window keeping her beanie low and the child mostly covered from other's sight. As the bus begins to move Maria lets her head rest against the cool window and slowly closes her eyes not to sleep but to rest as she listens to the radio over the speakers drifting in and out of her ears like waves as she catches the most important pieces. Howard Stark found dead, suspected assassination, amber alert for the missing son, no clues or leads, no evidence, just like she wanted it to be. She doesn't know why the child chose her over the police or why he is so comfortable with her but she can't help but feel it's destined, like someone made sure she would be the one to do the hit and take in the child which she wasn't able to fight the need to do it.

.

The next morning Maria watches as Tony begins to stir waking up blinking up at her before a lazy smile crosses his face and a warm tiny hand rests on her cheek, Maria is surprised but recovers quickly and sits him up a bit better so he can see out the window. It's still too early but they'll be in the next state soon where they'll have to change buses after a quick food and drink stop at some gas station for supplies but so far so good which is little strange but she'll take whatever she can get to leave and go under the radar. Once Tony is more awake Maria whispers in his ear telling him to call her mama and that from this day froward he's her son and has always been from the minute she gave birth to him and that there is no father and they are leaving to get away from Maria's angry family. Tony takes it in like breathing so easily it's a little concerning but they have no time for that as they get off of the bus and purchase tickets for the next one before they take a bathroom break which is a little hard with all the luggage they are hauling around and then go to the gas station. In the gas station Maria makes sure they can't be recognized as they go through the isles picking things out that can last them without spoiling and some what healthy.

The next few weeks are slow and repetitive as they go through the same motions showering at every few stops where they change clothes but for the most part they are confined to the bus and so far have been lucky that no one even approaches them. They've made it through a few police checkpoints without the blink of an eyes and finally made it back to New York but instead of going back to New York City Maria takes Tony to Great kills where she finds a small crummy one room apartment in a shitty neighborhood. As soon as they have the apartment Maria has a few things brought in via a work friend of sorts and slowly lets herself get used to this new life she has wondering how she'll make money now or it she should just straight up and quit the business. She doesn't but she's more careful now even though it's been basically a month since she's had the child in her care and still the job is in the news but now it seems to be dying down probably been brushed under the rug by someone. The second day after moving into the building owned luckily by people from the similar line of work making things way easier Maria sits down in the near empty room cross legged with Tony in her lap playing with a rubric cube she had found and picks up the cell phone she had just bought. 

"Arcane Council what the fuck do you want?" A gruff voice answers the phone

"Raven on twilight" Maria says into the phone and waits as she's put on hold

"Flair Ocypa, who do you need?" A snide females voice chimes in snapping and chewing her gum loudly 

"Jay Bentley" Maria says and listens as the woman pauses 

"Sure thing hun" Flair says almost in a chiding tone but she does transfer the call

"Bentley, whose asking?" A man's low smooth voice slithers through the phone

"It's Maria Jay" Maria says with an almost sigh

"Maria, well done on your job the money has been transferred already" Jay says but she knows he wants to ask about the amber alert

"Thanks but that's not why i'm calling" Maria says temper flaring a bit

"You sound angry" Jay says playing innocence

"You didn't say there would a little kid there" Maria snaps into the phone

"I didn't know it mattered" Jay says smug with himself

"Fuck off, from now on i'm freelancing you prick" Maria growls into the phone before hitting the end button

Maria raises her hand to throw the phone but after a pause mid swing shaking with effort she drops her arm as her head hangs down and she sighs slowly clenching her hand letting the phone slip the floor before she sighs again and lifts her head running a hand through her hair. Letting Tony move around the room Maria turns to the news app and opens it searching through worried now that the local police will call in the heavy guns but luckily that does seem to the case as of the moment but she knows if it does go that way she'll need to leave the country with him until things calm down. For now Maria will do her best to raise the child in secret and making money the only way she can making sure to cover her tracks extra well from that point on and bids her time until things cool down.


	2. Time flies

The days slowly turn into months then years full trying times and small miracles filled in with mother moments and growing phases and somehow now Maria can't remember a time without Tony by her side through the days at home or on trips so she can fulfill jobs. Watching Tony grow is something Maria never thought she would experience thinking she wouldn't be alive long enough to see it with him or any other child knowing if she were to have her own it would majorly different than the way it is now. Tony learns just as fast as Maria teaches him from all parts of their lives from weapons, to combat, to book smarts, to street smarts, first aid, tracking, disappearing, cooking, technology and the more he grows the more she teaches him. The people in the building have come and gone but maybe are left with a lasting impression of the young female assassin and her small child and somewhere inside them they chose to keep them to themselves not wanting to risk a slip of tongue and cause one to loose the other.

It's getting close to his bed time a few months later after moving in and as part of a new thing Maria decides to bath the child in the tiny bathroom before tucking him into the bed and waiting for him to sleep before she begins to search for another job or any news. After running the water to a certain height at a certain temperature Maria goes back into the rest of the space and grabs a pair of pj's for the toddler and the toddler himself and plops him down in the bathroom not bothering to close the door behind them. Setting the clothes aside next to a towel Maria helps the child undress before picking him up and setting him down in the tub and begins to help him bathe as he's distracted by the bubbles she had put in after a whim to buy them. She herself has her hair done after a long day wearing ripped boyfriend jeans and a white loose tee comfortable to relax in her own place now knowing she's as safe as she can be for the time being. Finally the bath comes to an end Maria sets Tony down on the bath mat and turns away to grab the towel only to turn back as the child bolts from the bathroom giggling still soaking wet with his ding ling bouncing in the wind as he makes a run for it. Maria shouts and spins on her knees fingers grazing him before he's out of reach as her hand grips the towel tightly she quickly gets to her feet and chases after him managing to quickly catch him wrapped up in a towel she picks him up and shares in the smile and laugh as she takes him back.

It's summer when things have sort of become a normal life for the two of them and so one afternoon when it's not as hot as the others and Tony begins to look a little bored Maria asks him if her wants to build a fort kneeling down in front of him. He runs over to her eagerly slamming his hands down on her bare thighs since she's wearing shorts and looks up at her in wonder and asks her what forts are and so Maria tells him while she cups his cheeks and after that she rubs their noses together. Tony is so excited that he's already running around grabbing soft things nearly tipping over making Maria laugh and get up to help him carry everything to a open spot on the floor before she beings moving furniture with Tony's help of course. They spend the afternoon building the blanket fort and when it's finished the lay inside and Maria tell him stories before they open the laptop and watch movies until Maria makes dinner and they return to eat in the fort and watch more movies until they end up falling asleep curled together in their fort.

It's early on fall morning when Maria wakes up and notices that Tony seems to have grown a tiny bit and after a long hard think pressing her thumb into her forehead with the other arm crossed over her chest as she sits in the bed she gets an idea. Not wanting to wake Tony Maria gets up and finds a ruler and sharpie and lays them out while she begins making them something to eat singing softly to herself along side the radio that's turned on, it's light and warm today so she has the window open with the curtains blowing lightly in the wind. Leaving her hair a mess and dressed only in a white tee and black underwear she flicks off the stove and dishes up the meal before grabbing some glasses and filling them up with coffee and juice just in time. As Maria slips the juice back into the fridge she hears the pitter patter of tiny feet hurrying towards and closes the fridge in time to have her legs latched onto by a tiny body that looks up and smiles at her, Maria laughs a little and lifts him up to give him a big kiss. They eat on the floor listening to a movie on the laptop as they eat before they leave the show running and dishes on the ground grabbing the pen and ruler she has him stand against a door frame and kneels down in front of him. Making sure he's at full tight and still Maria sets the ruler on top of Tony's head and draws a line with the marker before placing the ruler on the ground and lets Tony move away as she writes his name and the date on the line.

It's after his fifth birthday when Maria takes a job out of the country so packing her bag and his Maria takes Tony with her to Germany to complete the job and take the hit and while Tony knows what she's doing he isn't fazed instead focusing on the trip like the child he was meant to be. Dressed in black nylons with black combat boots, a black mini pleated skirt and black hoodie Maria piles the luggage onto her body and takes Tony's hand in hers so she can keep him close and they head down to the street. He's wearing black leggings with brown boots, a black hoodie and a black light weight parka with his own little back pack tucked against his body excited to be going on a trip, using her connections to the underworld like many others Maria has booked a private plane to take them. They take a taxi to the air strip and Tony looks out the window the whole time from her lap pointing to each thing that interests him on the way, the cab driver is kind not asking questions and giving her a supportive look. Maria thanks him as they get out and grab their bags before heading onto the plane via the steps which Tony thinks is so cool eagerly climbing them with Maria's help waving to the pilot as they enter the body of the plane. The pilot was shocked but waved back as they sit down in the seat among the other people also taking the flight and Maria takes the isle while letting Tony sit by the window so he can look out at the sky as they fly which makes his whole world, he talks about it for days afterwards.

When Tony turned five Maria decided he should start a home school of sorts where he'll be at home taking courses as they come and go easy enough using the fake names and so on to keep the under the radar as much as possible even bumming someone else wifi. It seems easy enough but then again he is a child so things won't be too hard and so schooling begins in their tiny apartment and even when she takes him on jobs Maria will bring some of the school work with them to keep Tony busy and makes sure he doesn't fall behind. Tony is smart, she knows this but he's breezing through this too fast to be average intelligence so Maria keeps up with it all the faster he completes things the faster she'll up the grade letting him move at his own pace as quick as he wants. Maria is sure he'll finish high school way earlier than most and so when that time comes she'll give him the resources and space to learn whatever he wants from online schools and programs for the fun of it.

 

Maria and Tony come home after a month or so away on a few jobs out of country and when they come back the house is a bit of a mess having left it in a bit of a rush and of course time does messy things up a bit so with a heavy sigh Maria sets down their bags and grabs the cleaning supplies. Tony seems happy to do it as he tries to sing along to the radio and he's getting good following in his mamas footsteps as he tries to help her clean by doing sweeping with a little toy broom. Maria laughs softly to herself as she beings to clean the apartment little by little, room by room and thing by thing until finally all that's left is to make the bed and put away their things in either the dresser or the bedroom closet depending on what it is. It's gotten quiet as the sun begins to go down and looking around Maria finds Tony asleep on the messy bed and lovingly rolls her eyes and brings their bags further into the house and sets the weapon cases in the closet before putting the bags on the bed. Pulling the hamper closer Maria begins to go through the bags separating the dirty clothes from the clean before pushing the nearly full hamper away back into it's spot on the wall and puts away the clean clothes back into their drawers. Bags emptied Maria slips them under the bed and takes off Tony's shoes, hat and jacket before placing them to the side and begins to make the bed around the sleeping child and when it's finally finished Maria strips down to her long sleeve shirt and underwear. Tossing her other clothes bra included to the side Maria climbs in bed and lays down next to Tony who snuggles up into her chest as she adjusts the covers over them and falls asleep feeling warm through and through.

On Tony's sixth birthday Maria makes the decision to begin training him in hand to hand combat and other forms of self defense giving him a head start into teaching his body what to do as he gets older and stronger the better he'll get. It's hard at first a lot of bumps and bruises and as well as some tears but slowly oh so slowly it begins to work and he begins to get the hang of things, as he watches and follows his mothers every move carefully and slowly and then test them out on her. It takes months before it becomes something he's used too and begins to enjoy it but soon it's just part of their day to practice each and ever move for a few hours probably by the time he's used to it in the beginning it was only a half hour and slowly more times is added .

Six is when Maria teaches to swim using pools in the winter and in the summer she takes him to the lakes, rivers and sea and like the hand to hand it takes a long time until he can do it well and she doesn't really to watch him closely and can start to enjoy it as well. Like the hand to hand Tony loves it, he loves the water, he loves the bonding and the time they spend together and he knows as he gets bigger he'll be able to do more and maybe Maria will teach him survival tips for in the water. Another though he has is maybe she'll teach him about combat in the water too, Tony may not want to be an assassin but he knows that by choice or not he will live in danger for the rest of his life because of who he is and when people know things will get dangerous.

It's after a day at the beach when Maria decides to stop at an ice cream shop on the way home with Tony to give him a treat of something he has probably never had and she hadn't had the chance to give it to him yet either which seemed like a waste. Either way hand in hand with the beach bag over her shoulder Maria takes Tony into the shop and lifts him up settling him on her hip and points to the ice cream below which makes him excited and even more so when he's given little tastes of them. The first one is cold and creamy but it tastes really good and after a few tries he picks out a flavor and waits excitedly as it's dished up and handed to him, mama says he can start eating as she pays for it one handed so she didn't need to put him down. That was his first time trying ice cream and it won't be the last and Tony will remember that for a long time to come and this is something he may never have tried if he had stayed in the mansion and Maria hadn't taken him home.

"Happy Birthday Tony" Maria says removing her hands from over his eyes to show him a cake with seven candles in it

Tony looks at the cake surprised before looking back and up at her before he blows out the candles with a huge smile as Maria hugs him tightly with their cheeks squished together as she cheers for him, after the candles are blown out Maria cuts them both a slice of the cake. It might not be a really nice place they are staying in at the moment and the cake doesn't look very good but at least it tastes good and their together in some shitty old prison or not, to clear things up it's not a prison anymore instead it's been turned into a motel. Outside it's hot and muggy even after the sun has started to set but at least it's not cold which would be way worse in this old prison with spotty hot water and heating so hot weather was perfectly okay. They eat cake together and have a good time before Tony is settled into the single bed and Maria leaves with her case for a job not wanting to bring Tony along hoping that she wasn't damaging too much by being with her so at every chance she gets she take it.

When they get home from his birthday hit job they have a day or two to rest until Maria asks him if he's ready to learn how to learn the tricks of the trade and how to use weapons and care for such things, she's nervous about it a somber seriousness oozes from her. Tony is ready and a little excited if he wasn't lying so now after every hand to hand and homework another time block is added for weapons training and assassin trick and tips of the trade and sure it's not normal but it's their thing at this point. Maria didn't like making the child into someone like her but at least he's not working and just doing the motion never actually firing a bullet or attacking someone so that's a plus but for how long she doesn't know and that worries her. Still if something does happen to her she does have a contact who is willing to take in Tony and finish looking after him putting him on the somewhat right path of life but that doesn't make things easier for her or Tony but at least they can be prepared.

Tony is at that age now where he's more into tech and other things than clothes shopping but both he and Maria need some new clothes, shoes, bags and so on meaning he has no other choice but to come along with her to the mall slash downtown area. That morning Maria was up before him like usual tying up her hair into a high ponytail and then she puts on a black turtle neck top with tight blue jeans and her scuffed up black combat boots before whipping up a quick breakfast for them. When Tony gets up he sits up in the bed eyes still closed as he looks around hair wild around his head meaning he needs a hair cut soon before scrubbing his eyes and opening them with a little mew at the bright light that hits his eyes the moment he opens them. Sliding out of the bed and onto the floor Tony digs through his drawers and pulls on a pair of jeans with rips in the knees and a moss green long sleeve shirt before he sits down on the floor soaking up the suns warmth as he pulls on his socks and black combat boots. Dressed he joins Maria in the open floor to watch something on the laptop while they eat, when he sits down next to her she gives him a side hug and a kiss on top of his head which he returns to her cheek. The morning is nice and as they leave Maria slips on her black biker jacket and Tony puts on his army green utility jacket before they head out and walk down the street to the subway station and take the train into town where Maria drags him from shop to shop until they can't carry anymore bags and head home.

For his eighth birthday it once again falls on a job but this time it's way up north and there is snow everywhere so they leave a little early and find a place to stay on the first day and just hang out saving tomorrow to go outside and have some fun. The next morning dressed in their winter things Maria takes Tony out to a park covered in snow and helps him build a snow man before they have a snowball fight and it ends in a tie both too cold and wet to finish the fight so they head back to the room. After taking off their clothes and throwing them in the dryer Maria runs the big bathtub and they climb into the soapy hot water relaxing as they begin to warm up and wait as the tingling sensation fades away and the water begins to cool. Pulling the plug they climb out and dry off before pulling on some comfortable clothes and do a quick training session and some homework before they order room service and spend the rest of the day in the room watching TV and relaxing in bed.

Before they leave to head back home to New York Maria sneaks out of their room and goes into the shops buying a armt green instax camera and some film before sneaking back in and setting the bag down on Tony's sides night stand for him to see when he wakes up. While she waits Maria packs up her things and goes through her bags until she pulls out a pair black leggings with a dark grey sweater dress her combat boots and a army green parka, she sets the parka aside for the moment though. Dressed and hair pulled up into a messy bun with her favorite hair pin in she peeks back into the room and watches as Tony begins to stir before blinking his eyes open and shooting up in the bed when he sees the gift left for him and quickly opens it. She laughs at his face and goes back to getting them something to eat while he figures it out and soon she hears soft clicks and whirls meaning he's already stared to take pictures of things inside the room and out the window and feels happy she was able to get that camera for him. He takes tons of pictures with that camera nearly every week they have to go out and buy more film and boxes to hold all the photos he's taken picking out his favorites for albums that he fills and keeps safe under the bed.

It's Christmas when his next gift comes, Maria has noticed that he's taken a shine to her knives mostly of the engraved initials in all the handles of her knives no matter if they are her shiny black throwing knives with M.C carved in gold or her rainbow karambit or her regular combat knife or even her modern bowie knife. So that year Maria commissions Tony his own knives like her's with his own initials carved into them which are A.C since her son has never been or will be that mans son and she's sure his late mother would agree and funnily enough Maria and his late have the same initials. Maria keeps the knives the same just adding on Tony's own initials and is excited they arrived just in time for Christmas so on Christmas morning she hands Tony his Christmas present a case just like hers. Tony opens it both nervous and excited and is very happily surprised to open it and find his own knife sets with his own initials carved into the handles of each knife, he drops the case and surges into Maria's arms giving her a huge hug. Maria laughs as she lets him and he picks one of them up and tests it out pretending like he's her or own of the characters on a show they've watched and Maria knows she's made the right choice then

Since Tony has gotten his knives and been practicing with them Maria has decided that he should finally be taken to a gun range and get some real practice in with the guns that isn't parts, cleaning and mechanics besides what nine year old boy doesn't want to play with guns. So on the weekends when they are free Maria will take him to either a gun range or into the woods to practice on cans or something and like most things he's a quick learner and the bigger the challenge the better he is, he loves a challenge. They start small and work up to bigger guns because he is still a kid and small so they need to be careful with his body as it's growing and not injure anything to where it would be a problem in the future, and Maria is already looking into getting him his own guns once he's old enough. At night when Maria can't sleep she'll lat in bed and stare at his face wondering if she was doing okay, was she doing the right thing, should she stop or leave, but somehow she can't and maybe that was Mary's fault.

It's a cool fall night almost winter so they have the temperature set higher than normal and have been having a lazy day at home full of movies and junk food, with Tony being nine Maria is less worried about him and she's sure she'll worry less as he gets older not so afraid for him. Yesterday was intense full of all kinds of training and home work so Maria has decided to take the day off and lounge around with Tony just enjoying each others company doing nothing which is nice and very needed for the both of them. Tony is growing quite a bit now and they still use the height chart on the door frame and it shows how big he's getting quickly gaining on her which is both a sad and happy thought but Maria will take anything to know he's healthy.

Maria is off on a job for the day letting Tony stay home for the first time since she won't be too far from their neighborhood which is both exciting and scary for Tony but he knows it'll be okay and spends the morning practicing and doing homework. By lunch he's grown hungry and begins looking for something quick and easy to eat but finds nothing easy enough so he takes a little money and pulls on his sneakers and parka and heads down to the corner station at the end of the street and walks in. Inside Tony goes through the isles and finds some jerky and noodles and picks them up carrying them to the counter and pays for them before leaving with the shopping bag in hand as he heads for home bracing himself against the freezing wind. Outside people line the streets everyone here is from the rougher side of life doing shady things but lots of kids still live here and he's used to the smell of cigarettes and blood by now since Maria does smoke on and off and blood is just a part of life in this area. A few of the people know him calling out as he waves back and heads into his building waving at the granny at the front desk who blows him a kiss as he begins to climb the stairs to the fourth floor and unlocks his door going inside. Shrugging off his jacket Tony locks the door behind him and puts the bag on the ground as he hangs up his jacket and pulls off his snow covered boots before taking the bag into the kitchenette and turning on the kettle as he opens the noodle packaging. Once the food is done Tony carefully takes it the coffee table and sets it down opening the laptop watching videos on tech and machines as he eats soaking up everything that the people are saying watching it super focused.

Tony is ten when they are in Japan for a job the same time as a festival so Maria takes him to it, the festival is in summer at a local shrine so that morning Maria puts on a white crop top tee with black short shorts and her combat boots before she hands Tony a pair of dark green cargo shorts with a oversized white tee and his combat boots. Dressed Maria holds onto Tony as they walk to the shrine that's already a busy with people and sounds and walk up the steps to see stalls full of food and games lining the path as people swarm the path. Thanks to Maria Tony knows quite a few languages Japanese being one of them so while Maria follows along Tony goes from booth to booth exploring and playing games with her as she smokes. Of course the pair didn't come unarmed or slacking off they are very aware of their surroundings but they can still enjoy the festival and they do coming back as the sun beings to set with fully bellies and arms full of prizes they won.

For Maria's twenty fourth birthday they go to the movies in a big cinema in down town Great Kills after a birthday dinner and ice cream to watch a new movie following another one of their favorites so with snap backs pulled low the pair enter the theater. Inside after grabbing drinks and popcorn they sit in the very back row of the packed theater and wait for the movie to start as they whisper to each other and snack on their popcorn, the movie is louder than Tony figured it could be but it's still so exciting and a great experience.

When Tony is ten Maria takes him on a hit like she used to when he was really little and let him observe as she explained what she was doing from tracking to executing the actual hit from floor a few buildings away from the target to keep the distance. The target is a old business man who is fat and does bad thing so there is no problem with his death, the client is a young girl who had worked for the man before an incidence happened and she was forced to quit and the police weren't helping her. Tony was there for the meeting and helped sight for Maria as she sniped the man and went with her to tell the woman the good news and take the fat envelope of money that had been promised and Tony was glad to see the woman looked better than the first time she met them.

Tony is home alone the week after his eleventh birthday with Maria off on a job for a few days and so biding his time until she comes back he does his training and practices and home work making sure to eat everyday at least three times and bathe every second day. One of the other tenants on his floor is a hacker whose sixteen living with his old grandpa whose a broker so Tony spends a lot of free time at their apartment and Tony watches and learns from Feng Sun the teenager. While Tony hangs out with Feng grandpa Zhu sits at the kitchen table smoking his pipe surrounded by papers and a computer working away only interacting with them every now and then when Feng's older sister Fan stops by with treats and news from China. Tony really likes the Sun family and he has one other family that he really likes that live in the apartment under Tony's own one that is of a mother, father, and twin girls who are mixed race with the dad being Russian and the mother being Native American. The dad is Khlebnikov Kirill (Kirilka) Vasilievich, the mom is Sikya and the twins are Emmalyn and Nylamme who are a year younger than Tony at ten years old and they mmoved in about four years ago so they have gotten pretty close too. Finally a week ends and Tony is sitting at home on the floor cross legged staring at the door waiting and soon the knob turns and the door opens and Tony waits until he can see it's her before he rushes over and hugs her tightly as she holds him just as tight.

At eleven Maria has taught Tony quiet a bit of cooking mostly just stuff that is decent and easy to make since she can't really cook either but for his twelfth birthday she wants to bake him a cake which isn't for a while but she needs time to learn and practice before hand. So one afternoon after buying a bunch of supplies and ingredients Maria ties up her hair and slips on an apron ready to tackle this new skill as she open up the cook book and picks one of it's recipes and soon Tony walks in after doing home work in the bedroom to find a mess of the kitchenette. It looks like a bomb had gone off sending ingredients all over with a sink full of dishes and a oven on cooking something, he can't see Maria but he's sure she's squatted down staring into the over.

"Mama?" Tony calls out with a little huffed laugh

"Ah bambino" Maria says popping up from behind the counter covered in flour and batter

"What ya doing?" Tony asks coming closer with a coy smile on his lips

"Baking" Maria huffs ignoring the mess in front of her

"Why?" Tony asks dipping his finger into some batter on the counter

"Why not" Maria says wiping her face with the back of her hand

"Fair, can I help?" Tony asks her and her eyes light up

"I thought you'd never ask" Maria says throwing an apron at him

The two spend the afternoon making an even bigger mess but by the end of it they have a batch of cupcakes, a cake, and two batches of cookies that are perfect and all that's left it to clean up this mess and do the dishes before they can eat some real food. It's nearly dark when they finally have everything cleaned up and put away and they're still covered in flour and batter as they sit on the kitchenette floor and eat their cup noodles with the warm oven against their backs and the radio playing their favorite station.

When Tony is eleven he goes with Maria to a cafe early summer in Paris by the Eiffel tower as flower petals from the trees rain down on them caught in the warm breeze as a french singer is hear softly from the speakers in the cafe as life busies around them. Maria looks softer than her usual self with her hair down and wearing a short white sundress and white wedge sandal heels as she smokes across the small iron table from him with her coffee placed in front of her as she watches the crowds around them carefully looking for someone. Tony is sporting a fresh hair cut cooling him down by shorting the back and sides of his hair leaving the top a little longer for coverage and wearing a pair of dark grey cargo jogger pants pushed up to his knees with suspenders hanging down and an oversized black tee and his combat boots. His chair is pulled closer to Maria's as a third sits across from them empty, Tony has an ear bud in as he leans forward on the table forehead resting against his crossed arms waiting. Tony is dozing when he feels Maria sit up a little as the chair scrapes back as someone sits down in making Tony adjust his head so he can crack open an eyes and see whose sat down with them to meet with Maria. The man is big with dark skin dressed nicely all in black with a missing eye and Tony feel he's from a similar sort of business but relaxes when Maria starts to play with his hair and goes back to dozing on the table since she's given him the 'it's okay' nudge.

Maria and Tony are getting ready to leave Paris later that week and after packing everything up they book a car service and head for the air strip but after a little while it's clear they are being followed and the driver also one of their kind of people begins to try and loose them. It's a long intense car chase finally ending when the tail crashes into a blockaded and they can get to the air strip with enough time to take off before more follow along, safe at the air stripe Maria and Tony get out and quickly grab their bags tipping the driver. On the plane they take off quick and Maria begins to search for why they were followed turns out an old enemy found out she'd been in Paris and had taken the chance to try and take her down but failed. When they land back home news reaches them that the person who placed the hit was taken out by someone else who had gone after the hit on that person and they didn't need to worry anymore but it was a close call and near escape.

Once again they spend Tony's birthday on a job in a crummy hotel room with a good line of sight on the target so Maria can snipe him from her so as she waits ready to take him down at any minute now Tony is chilling in the bedroom on the bed playing a video game with his camera next to him. Time slowly ticks by and then finally hours later the shot is taken and the target is down as people panic and run for cover but just as they shot goes off the door to their hotel room is kicked in and Maria is quickly rolling onto her back to defend herself as a big goon comes in aiming for her. When the goons body lines up with the bedroom door frame Tony charges knife in hand tackling the goon to the ground and begins to wrestle with him landing some really good hits as Maria gets to her feet. Together the two manage to overpower the goon and take him down which was more work than it was worth but no time to rest as they clean up and back quickly leaving the room and fleeing from the scene. Tony did really good managing to straddle the man and land some good hits before Maria had joined him and together the blocked all the goons movements and stabbed him to death and Maria has never felt more proud in that moment.

Tony is home alone again in rainy spring walking home from a quick stop at a near by store for something and as he's heading back down the street for his building he sees a scuffle going on and looks closer finding young woman on the ground covering an infant as a man stomps on her. Tony was the only one out at the moment but people were gathering so using the rain to his advantage Tony drops the bag as he pulls out his karambit and holds it ready as he runs and skid across the water on the road. Tony slides fast and hard past the guy shooting out his arm as he passes knocking the guy back and onto the ground with a wet heavy thump and then slams a knee into the mans torso to keep him down as he puts the knife to the mans throat. By then more people had joined him not looking pleased since no one condoned this time of behavior, a few of the girls hurried the woman and her baby away inside to dry them off and help while Tony and a few other men stood around. It was clear this man was no longer welcome so when Tony got off him he makes a run for it tail tucked between his legs knowing that he didn't stand a chance there anymore, after a few wet ruffles of his hair Tony tucks the knife away and goes to pick up his bag. Luckily the things in the bag are still dry when Tony retrieves it and takes it inside where he strips and drys off before pulling on some black tight joggers and sits down opening the bag to take out the film and put it into the camera.

He's thirteen when they get back from a job tired and sore after being ambushed on the way home leaving both of them with some injuries that needed to be taken care of so after dropping down the bags and stripping down to their underwear they sit down with the first aid box between them. Being who they are it is a giant first aid box more than they would need but sometimes it was a good thing to have around like now both of them are pretty banged up more so than the usual. Both are covered in scars as well Maria more so but Tony isn't far behind her though she does have tattoos which he doesn't have yet besides the fall angel on her leg she also has a huge oni back piece and on her left upper arm there is a floral piece. 

"Tell me if it hurts" Maria says ignoring her own open wounds to tend to his first

"Yours are worse" Tony says eyeing the gun shot wound in her side

"You first bambino" Maria says with a smile trying mask her own pain

Tony's Injuries: Gash to his right outer thigh, slashes to his right and left legs, broken ring finger and pinky on his right hand, dislocated left shoulder, broken nose, gash to his left temple, split open bruise to his left cheek bone, bruising to his arms and jaw, slash to his middle back and a torn lip. 

Maria's injuries: Gun shot wound in her lower left side, large gash in her right palm, split lip, torn ear, gash on her right temple, broken nose, sprained right wrist, broken left eye socket, cut to her right cheek done, guns on her fingers, bruising on her back and and legs as well as a sprained right ankle.

"It hurts" Tony grunts as she resets his shoulder

"Sorry" Maria hums finishing up the last of his patching up

"Fuck. Your turn" Tony says testing his shoulder and splinted fingers

"Joy" Maria says and tries to keep still as he patches her up

"All done" Tony says after a long time, longer than his own session

"Thank god" Maria says flopping down on the bed

That night after Tony cleans up the med box and puts it away letting Maria sleep on the bed instead of making her get up and help him since she needed the rest more than him he sets down a pain killer bottle and water to each night stand. Preparations done Tony climbs into the bed next to her and pulls up the covers so that both are under them basking in the softness warming up as the night is in full swing outside and starts to doze off and soon he's asleep too finally able to let himself rest. Over the course of the night and into the morning both are woken by pain and after taking the meds they both fall back asleep until it's nearly noon and they get up changing the dresses that needed it and throwing on some loose clothes before they get something to eat and slump on the couch to watch something on the Laptop. Tony's camera is never too far and he's taken pictures of their ordeal and the after math but still in the pictures they look happy together like they should be.

Left alone Tony sits by the cell phone as he sorts out photos to put in albums waiting for a phone call to know that Maria is okay just like every other time she's left him home alone the phone sits next to him at all times waiting for her call. Soon enough the phone begins to ring and Tony absently picks it up and accepts the call holding it to his ear and listens for her voice to come through. 

"Hi bambino" Maria chirps into the phone from her end

"Mama Maria what a surprise" Tony drawls with a smile on his face as he looks at the photos

"As if" Maria says with pfft at the end probably rolling her eyes too

"How did it go?" Tony asks her knowing she must be done with the job if she's calling him now

"Good, no problems which is always nice" Maria tells him as a train can be heard in the back ground

"Good, what are you doing now?" Tony asks her sliding a photo into a spot on the page 

"On my way back to the motel and then i'll fly out tomorrow morning" Maria says getting onto the train and grabbing a pole to keep her from falling

"I can't wait" Tony tells her flopping onto his back so he can stare at the ceiling

"Me too, I miss you" Maria says softly into the phone her voice full of love

"I don't like it when you're away" Tony tells her

"I wish I could have brought you with me, I miss my snuggle bug" Maria says with a little laugh

"I'll see you tomorrow" Tony says relaxing into the bed

"Tomorrow" Maria says before the line is cut leaving both alone

Tony is fourteen when he follows Maria on a job to Germany and by now he's been given his own set of guns the same as Maria's and a case for them but he didn't bring them with him since he wasn't supposed to be involved with the hit. They track the target to a old clock shop that's a cover for a smuggling ring specializing in weapons to terrorists and as they wait near by in the shadows ready to take him down, they get the chance quickly taking him down before back tracking further into the shadows and alleys. The targets people are chasing them down and gaining when suddenly Maria is slammed to the ground by the last follower that hadn't given up yet and he was big, bigger than Maria easily keeping her pined under him. Tony skids to a stop and looks around quickly jumping onto a crate and then a fire escape scaling it and the wall until he's over the goon on top of Maria and drops down combat knife in hand as it sinks deep into the mans shoulder blades. The goon rears back with a cry trying to reach behind him to grab him but Tony keeps out of reach as he pulls the knife out and sinks it in again this time the back of the neck, by now Maria has managed to get out from under him but she's holding her rib cage in pain. Tony quickly finishes off the goon and races over to her kneeling down and helping her put an arm around his shoulders as he wraps one around her waist and helps her to her feet as they rush off with Maria using him for support.

After a few quiet months the fourteen year old gathers the courage to ask Maria if he can get tattooed too and waits anxiously as she looks him over carefully from her spot on the window sill where she's smoking but he doesn't cower more just bouncing from foot to foot. After a few minutes Maria nods and grins knowing just the place to take him to so they can get it done as soon as possible, The Tattoomb is a under ground tattoo parlor where many people go to if they are from the under ground. They'll tattoo Tony no questions asked just a design and body and they'll do since they did her first at fourteen too when she finally asked her mentor to let her have one, so with a design in mind both slip on their boots and grab their jackets leaving the apartment. The tattoo Tony is going to get is on his shoulder blades and down his spine a bit of Icarus flying in black and white in sketch genre and he's sure it'll be the first of many to come, he's excited as he follows Maria to the tattoo parlor. Inside it's loud music and smoke as people stand around or are working and they manage to get a appointment that day right then and there and after giving them the design they make a quick sketch and then begin to tattoo it on. It takes a few hours but it's done and breathtaking so once it's wrapped and paid for they head home to share a drink celebrating this new piece of art and Maria is happy with the boy she raised since he's the perfect man in her eyes, cheers to them.

It's winter of that same year and when Maria came back from a job she was pale and feverish apparently she got trapped and her only option was to jump into a freezing river and let the current take her way which seems to have gotten her sick. As soon as she's in the door and puts down her stuff Tony pushes her into the bed room and makes her put on winter fuzzy pj's and get into bed to rest and she's asleep in minutes so he turns off the lights and takes the hamper from the room. With the hamper out of the room so he doesn't need to go in and out waking her up Tony sets to work placing the weapon cases against the wall under the windows and digs through her bag pulling out the clothes and dumping them in the hamper. After the hamper is full he puts it into the wash and while the machine runs Tony puts away the other items in the bag before setting it aside and grabs a mixing bowl from one of the bottom cupboards in the kitchenette and puts it on the bag. Setting them aside Tony goes through the weapon cases and does maintenance until she wakes up and puts them away after dropping off the bowl in case she vomits and then calls the doctor, a doctor from their walk of life so he's a little rough and sketchy but a good doctor none the less. Nogai comes by that evening and checks her own giving him a list of things he'll need and then leaves since it's just a cold or flu there is no need to worry as long as she takes her meds and rests.

It's after his fifteenth birthday Maria gets detained in a New Jersey jail after she's caught but they have no witnesses or evidences and she's already called up Kane Fisher a under ground lawyer to come and get her out but she'll be gone for a while but she'll call him later. Tony finds the days pass slower with the news and not knowing when she'll call is hard so he tries to preoccupy his mind his school, training, cleaning, and visiting as he waits and during a chance he finds one of her packs of smokes on top of the fridge. After a moment of thought he takes the packs and opens the window before sitting under it with his back against the wall and takes out one of the cigarettes and puts it between his lips and flicks the lighter on. Taking a deep breath Tony light the cigarette and after a moment he's coughing with watery eyes but he's not gonna stop determined to get used to it Tony pushes ahead and after a few hours he's gotten used to them and tucks the pack into his back pocket just as his phone rings. Pulling the cig out of his mouth between his fingers he looks down at the screen and answers it happy to hear her voice but she now knows he's smoking even if it's only been a few hours and she's not happy about but she lets it slide.

When Maria gets home from New Jersey she settles in for the first few days enjoying her freedom and son brushing aside the fact he's smoking on and off again with her now and instead after a long time thinking about it Maria decides to tell Tony about her past and who she really is and why she does what she does. Later in the week Maria has Tony sit next to her on the couch and starts to tell him a story of a girl whose life changed for better and worse after a fire destroyed the picture frame of her future. When Maria was born her parents were happy, a upper middle class couple from good normal families grown up to be a teacher and a scientist eager to start a family after getting married earlier that year before moving to New York. So Maria was born normal and healthy but as she got older things changed both parents fell out of love for each other but refused to leave the other instead home became a toxic environment of fighting and drinking while they outside image stayed crisp and clean. When Maria was ten she was walking home from school only to find her house swallowed by flames with both her parents inside burned to death, she was taken to a orphanage where she was quickly adopted by a man. This man was an assassin and in his later years looking for a protege to carry on his legacy so b=he picked Maria and trained her quickly and harshly sparing no time and once she was in that world she found she liked it there, did better there and had no reason to leave. So she became an assassin carry the mans name with her as she took his teachings and plunged head first into the under ground world unfazed by the dark cruel reality it was and instead stayed to herself and did what she wanted.

That same year during summer when Tony is in the apartment with the windows open eating a Popsicle he looks down and scaling the window sills is a fluffy orange/pink kitten with rose colored eyes looking a little scruffy around the edges. Tony connects to the kitten right away and it seems this kitten does too since she begins making her way up to Tony's window before hopping onto the sill and looking up at him with a teeny tiny meow and Tony smiled down at it and let it sniff his hand. Once the kitten was comfortable with him Tony picks it up and carries over to the sink and plops it down and begins to run the water which spooks the kitten but it doesn't last long soon she interested in this strange new thing that makes her wet. After giving the kitten a bath he dries her off and sets her down on the counter as he throws away the Popsicle stick and looks at her thinking and thinking until he decides she'll stay with him and Maria knowing Maria is going to die when she sees the kitten. Now the only thing to do was get this tiny kitten some stuff so tucking her into the breast pocket of his tee and grabbing what he needs Tony slips on his combat boots and sets out to a pet store to get what he'll need to keep her. The kitten has two be either two or three weeks old from her size according to the pet shops chart hung over the baskets, so picking up a basket and using his finger tip to pet the tiny kittens head he sets off through the isles looking for what he'll need. As he goes along Tony picks out a tag, collar, bed, toys, food, treats, dishes, meds, litter, litter box, and pet scoops and once he's paid Tony takes the kitten he's named Friday after the today and heads home to set it all up.

It's been a year since Tony has picked up Friday and over that time he's added more tattoos to his body like getting both backs of the hands with oni and sleeves of a few different things not really one piece but pieces added on over time. He's gotten really good at his training and weapon use, finished high school and moved onto more challenging things, helped Maria out with jobs and grown into a very handsome young man according to her and Friday is very loving clinging to both of them. Now sixteen Tony is out with Maria shopping for a couple of things with Friday draped around his neck like a scarf with long fuzzy fur sticking to the sweat on his skin in the summer heat wave Great Kills is currently having and Maria insisted they had to go out and get some things. Maria is wearing black bike shorts under a short black pleated skirt and a long thin red tee with her hair tied up and off her neck held up by a hair pin while Tony is wearing army green camo cargo shorts with his scuffed up combat boots just like Maria and an oversized black graphic tee. Their walking together down the street mixing in with the crowd as they from shop to shop when they spot a tail and begin to weave through the crowd spotting more and more tails luckily for them they loose them in the subway but those weren't any tails they were SHIELD tails.

When Tony turned sixteen Maria sat him down and told him about SHIELD which is an organization along the same lines as the FBI or CIA scattered all over the world but their main headquarters is in New York City and that while it's a mostly good organization it has it's problems. Tony knew of SHIELD many people did but not everyone knew the true details about like the fact that many people from their line of work are part of SHIELD and they are kind of one of a kind in what it does taking down governments and the red flagged. They are something like spies and soldier and police all in one doing all kinds of missions and reckon from all over the place and are the last ones to usually be called in since they are the black sheep of the organizations. But even SHIELD has a few bad moles that could be coming after them and they will need to be very careful from now on since it seems SHIELD may be getting involved now and that isn't a good thing with the moles listening in on all the workings.

It's a cool summer evening when Tony and Maria are sitting on the window sill smoking with Friday playing behind them with one of her toys as her people watch the stars in a cool breeze ruffling both their hair as it carries the smoke away.

"What if you die Maria?" Tony asks her after a long silence between the two of them

"I'll die like everyone else" Maria says staring at the stars she's gotten older more woman like now

"You know what I mean" Tony says rolling his eyes at the older woman

"I've already got someone to look after you-" Maria starts to explain

"I don't need a baby sitter" Tony says interrupting her

"Yes I know but think of it like a guardian okay" Maria says rolling her eyes swatting Tony's arm

"Fine, carry on" Tony says as Friday joins them

"You'll bury me somewhere nice in the country and live your life the way you want to and i'll join Mary and watch over you from above" Maria says wistfully both of them know it's highly unlikely they'll separate on peaceful terms

"I'll look after you don't worry" Maria says pulling him into a side hug

"I won't leave you alone" Tony says and they let the conversation drop settling into a calm sober silence in each others presence


	3. Joining Mary

Tony wakes up to snow falling outside and Friday curled into his side and Maria asleep beside him looking older than she should resting but that's life and Maria is in her thirties now that Tony is almost seventeen and with a job booked for later that week they needed to prep. Getting up Tony pulls on a hoodie and starts up the coffee machine before cutting up some fruit and splitting it into bowls before feeding Friday who followed him into the open space and once the coffee is brewed Maria is waking up. She wearing a big loose cardigan and yawning as she steps into the rest of the apartment and joins him on the couch to eat their fruit before they go through the job and prepare their bags even though it's not far from their own city. 

The job is for a mobster Kelton Staves who runs a gang called the crystal fangs that's started to cross lines and going after people who can't defend themselves and have nothing to do with them just regular people terrorized by this man and his gang. The client is an elderly woman whose grandson was killed for no reason by the crystal fangs and left in some alley for the police to find days later, the kid was young still in high school with a promising future as a baseball player but that cut as soon as he died. So of course Maria and Tony took the woman's case and have begun planing out the aspects of the hit before going into it and making sure they have enough ammo and everything is in good shape before being used and taken with them. Maria will handle most of the hit so Tony only plans to his combat knife and karambit along with him as well as his bag but Maria will bring all of her's and both will bring gear to hold all these different weapons while they handle this job in New York City. So Tony in his military bag packs a few changes of clothes, a phone, wallet, keys, camera, knives, hat, jacket, gear, black whistle respirator mask, first aid kit, smokes with lighter and Maria packs her weapons, gear, some clothes, phone, wallet, keys, hat, jacket, smokes with lighter and a first aid kit. Packed Tony and Maria decide to get dressed and leave so they can get into position and wait out their target so Maria pulls on some dark tight jeans and a tight black long sleeve under a black sip up hoodie with thumb holes. Tony pulls on a pair of ripped black tight jeans with a white tee and oversized zip up black hoodie, dressed both pulls on their boots and pull on their bag and leave the apartment closing the door behind them locking it. 

Friday jumps onto Tony's shoulders receiving a head scratch as the pair head down to the street and take the subway then a bus and then another train until finally catching a cab a day or two later two the run down harbor Staves likes to use for his cruel enjoyment. After paying the taxi they wait until it's out of sight before making their move picking out the best abandon warehouse to camp in until they can take the hit and finish up the job and after a little wandering around the find the perfect building and go inside. On the top floor of the building they make camp making sure to stay quiet and out of sight as they wait everything set up for when Staves arrives in the next few days to get questions from some old business man he's using. Time ticks by as they wait and then earlier than they planned it starts to pour and five shiny black cars pull up and people get out a few of them wearing SHIELD uniforms and one in a huge fur coat being Staves himself and a beaten up man thrown to the ground. Maria puts a finger to her lips as she settles down on her belly and moves her sniper rifle into position and Tony slides further down the concrete wall as he listens and waits and finally after an hour of waiting she gets a shot and takes it. Staves goes down and then she starts picking them off but she needed to stand to get a better angle and as she does so a bullet tears through her chest, Tony jumps up as she falls backwards screaming out her name as he catches her as they crash onto the concrete.

"Maria! Maria!" Tony says pushing the hair out of her face but her eyes are already lifeless

Tony gently places her down as rage takes over him and takes the rifle from her hands and as the men flee the building coming towards them to finish it off Tony picks them off until no one is moving anymore and then he sets down the rifle and grabs his combat knife. Knife in hand and fury coursing through him Tony storms out of the building and cuts the throat of every man to make sure they die and send a message before he returns to the building where Maria is still laying waiting for him. Once he's back and soaked in rain and blood Tony calls up Nogai to pick her up and waits for him to arrive, while he waits Tony takes her knives and guns and puts them into the cases and then he takes the ring and necklace she wears and after putting the ring on the chain he slips it around his own next and covers her in a blanket. Tony waits hours until its cold and dark when Nogai's car pulls up and he steps into the rain and walks up the stairs to where Tony is waiting for him sitting on the ground with his back to the wall watching the stairs. Nogai has met many killers but the chill he gets when he enters Tony's vision is far colder and darker than he's felt before and he's a little worried but he knows Maria is the first priority here and walks over to her body.

"I'm sorry Anthony" Nogai says after covering up her face again

"Take care of her Nogai" Tony says but his voice is just as cold, flat and dead as his eyes

"Of course, she'll waiting for you" Nogai says before lifting up the body

Tony watches the man carry her out of the building and into his car before driving off with her and her bag leaving Tony with his own bag and the weapon cases and now that he knows she's safe he will finish this job by ending everyone who had a part in taking her done. Tony pulls on the bags and heads into the rain walking to the closest subway before taking it in the middle of the city and makes his way to SHIELD hat pulled low to cover his face and hood on he watches the building for a little while before moving on. Tony finds a near by condo complex under construction and makes his way inside to one of the upper floors and breaks into one of the rooms under construction with the best view of SHIELD and sets the bags down beside him. Tony pulls out the knife case and the folder with all the info and a red sharpie and begins crossing off the already dead members in the file and that leaves six SHIELD agents left that had a part in taking down Maria and he ins those up and waits. Tony waits days waiting and watching only eating jerky and water with Friday by his side as he waits and waits and waits, in that time his clothes have dried the cuts on his knees have scabbed over and her blood has been washed off.

With Maria's black L.R tactical rifle set up watching the building Tony pulls on the rest of his gear being the mask, and a tactical belt connected to a thigh holster and around his shin another holster where he keeps his knives, the hat is gone tossed aside but the hood stays. Tony is growing tired of waiting after a week in the room alone watching for them but finally his patience wins and all six agents walk out together unaware of the danger they are in and Tony is quick to not waste his chance and starts picking them off. After minutes of shooting and screaming people running away Tony takes down the last agent just as he opens the doors hoping to make it into the building and escape Tony's range but he's not quick enough. Being the place it was the block is soon shut down and people are making barracked to make cover for the agents behind them taking stand searching for the source of fire as people are pulled inside or away, a few had fired back in panic managing to graze his right thigh, left under eye and right shoulder but Tony doesn't feel the pain or the warm blood oozing from the wounds. Tony is solely focused on the people now laying dead on the ground and steps in pools of their own blood and as he's going over the he see's one reach out for another agents and Tony makes another shot cracking the skull open scattering blood and brain matter everywhere.

It's a Mexican stand off now waiting for the other to make the first move and Tony is so ready to take down more agents and when he spots a few more of the moles out behind cover he makes for them only hitting two and injuring another three before they find his location. After waiting out the return fire Tony watches as a man comes out shouting and wearing a vest seeming to take over the situation and ordering them to drag the wounded back inside to be treated Tony takes their ignorance and picks off two more leaving the last injured one after it's pulled out of view. After the shots people had made themselves scarce to avoid being targeted even the one in charge had ducked behind a concrete planter once shots started popping off again. Tony is sure that more should be coming for him after leaving another exit but for now he'll worry about the scum in front and takes shots at random every now and then to keep control of the situation ignoring the dust, blood, and power coating him. After hours Tony's phone starts to ring and taking his eyes away for a second Tony grabs the phone and answers it but says nothing instead popping off a few more shots before reloading the rifle and waiting for the other caller to speak.

"I think you achieved what you came for" A deep voice says as a man big black man walks out of the building

"Sir get down it's dangerous" Another voice says as the one in charge surges for the other man

"Jade Snake-" The man begins to say but stops as a bullet nearly hits his head bedding itself into the ground behind him

"Sir" The other man urges 

"I'm sorry I brought her up" The man says unfazed looking straight at his spot even though he can't see Tony

"No one is coming after you it's just us kid" The man says and he's not lying

"Your agents killed my mother" Tony hisses taking a shot at the cover with the injured agent behind it

"That's enough" The man says sparing a glance at the injured

"Are you going to come in nicely?" The man asks him staring at him again

"And what hand myself over? As if" Tony says popping off two more shots at random

"What if I said Malik" The man says and Tony stops

"How do you know that code?" Tony asks him annoyed 

"Paris, a few years ago in spring Maria wore a white sun dress" The man says and Tony flashes back to that day

"Nice to see you again Nick" Tony says pulling back from the scope

"Why don't you come down and have a chat with me?" Fury hums ignoring his confused right hand man

"After killing so many agents I don't think so" Tony says with a huff relaxing as he sits back using his arms to brace behind him

"You aren't in trouble Tony" Fury says and it doesn't sound like a lie

"Why?" Tony asks him a tiny bit confused

"I have a spot open on a team I want you to fill" Fury says and yeah no way

"Bye Nick" Tony says ending the call

Tony doesn't waste time packing up and getting the hell out of there at top speeds with Friday on his heels quickly making his way back to Great Kills and their apartment before they start closing in on him, alone in the apartment with Fri and the bags on the ground Tony lights up a cig. Taking a long drag Tony runs a hand through his hair with a sigh and starts emptying drawers shoving things into the biggest bag he could find taking anything of great value to him before grabbing some clothes and shoes shoving them inside too. He knows he's rushing as he tears off the mask and shoves that into the bag as well but he knows he needs to get away quickly before they are breaking down the door as he's packing up the knives sets into the bag and then pulling out a second duffel bag. Putting out the cigarette Tony lights another before emptying the gun cases and shoving them and their things into the second duffel bag and zipping it up before quickly and a little awkwardly stripping off his clothes and pulls out a fresh pair. Not even bothering with his injuries Tony pulls on another pair of heavily ripped tight black jeans and his boots before a white tee and a black light weight utility parka and just as he grabs the straps to the bags there is a series of shouts as a truck pulls up. 

Cursing Tony looks out the window to find a black undercover SUV parked below on the street and waiting by the hood is Nick Fury wearing black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots and a black tee under his black leather trench coat staring up at his window. Tony feels another surge of anger flow as he curses a little too loudly and punches the window shattering the glass with his bare fist making Friday meow concerned as she brushes up against him, gritting his teeth and pissed to high hell Tony throws the bags over his shoulder. Tony storms his way down to the street and bursts angrily through the doors with Friday on his heels and stops as he does so he can glare at Fury who can very plainly see how angry the teen is. Friday winds between his legs as the two have a glare down and after ten or so minutes Tony realizes this man is just as strong willed as Maria clicks his tongue knowing he won't win and sighs deeply as he looks down at the cat before looking back up to meet the mans eye.

"Fine you damn pirate. Let's talk" Tony says deflating 

"In the truck kid" Nick says with a smirk before rounding to the drivers side

Tony climbs into the back seat of the truck after tossing his bags inside and Friday follows him in settling on his lap eyes carefully watching this strange man who doesn't seem bothered by her or her human which is strange but not unpleasant she finds. Tony relaxes after a few minutes some how this man has the same feel as Maria and it seems to soothe the violent angry he's feeling giving him a little more room to breathe as he opens the window a bit and lights up a cigarette taking a long drag before letting fall from his open lips as he looks out the window. Tony lets his eyes slide over to the big black man driving the truck and wonders when Maria contacted him the first time and why she chose the head of SHIELD to watch over him or why this man insisted on picking him up like some stray.

"Who has Maria?" Nick asks after a little while of driving not even taking his eyes off the road

"Nogai picked her up from the docks" Tony says as his mind flashes back to the moment she was shot

"She left sooner than I thought" Nick says a little wistful as he thinks back on her

"Yeah" Tony breathes out before he stares out the window again

Letting the conversation drop Nick thinks back on the first time Maria made contact with him which was a huge shock for to have the Jade Snake calling him on his private line voluntary and about a child none the less who was six that she took in two years ago on a job. It's was late on night years back as Nick was getting ready to leave and head home his private line rings which makes him freeze and stare for a moment weary but picks it up none the less and hears her out and so they have been in contract on and off before the meeting in Paris. Her words will never leave him almost begging him over the phone to watch out for the child once she's gone and help her give him a second chance at life, to be a bit more normal, to make sure her hard work isn't undone.

"Please Fury, I know you have no need to and there is no gain but i'm going to leave him at some point and I can't let that change him. He's doing so well and he's already so smart and talented just think about it please."


	4. Too bad You're not human Tony

It's like super early in the morning when they make it back to SHIELD and Nick takes Tony and his things back up to his office and lets Tony crash on the couch with a blanket looking more like a pile of laundry hiding under a blanket than a seventeen year old boy and his cat. Around six am Nick steps out to go get some coffee not thinking anyone would walk into his office so he won't need to be there to referee reactions so he takes his time getting two of the biggest cups of coffee he can before he starts making his way back. When he returns Tony is still sleeping and the white blanket he's under is spotted with blood from his untreated injuries and Nick knows it'll be a fight so without waking up the teen he snaps on a pair of handcuffs and his down in his chair to wait. Tony wakes up not long after annoyed by the cuffs but doesn't fight him on them yet instead he sits on the couch staring down Fury as they drink their coffee before Nick decides to drag him down to the med wing with some struggle along the way. Luckily for Nick the doctors there are used to volatile patients and managed to work around the feisty teen without getting injured mostly thanks to the cuff Nick put on Tony and the strong grip on the back of the teens neck. On the way back Nick is holding onto Tony's upper arm to keep him close so he can't run or fight on their way back to the office when in the hall they pass a small group of agents and Tony over hears the whispers and suddenly the room drops below freezing as time slows as Tony breaks free sliding his arms over the agents head. Once his arms are over Tony uses the hand cuff chain to strangle the agent as he takes him to the ground pure calm rage taking over as he traps the agent under him and tightens the chain around his neck as people panic around them screaming.

Cursing Nick spins around and grabs onto the teen jacket to pull him back giving the man below the teen enough room to turn onto his back so he can look Tony in the face and defend himself better as he manages to get the chain off his neck and gasps for breath. People are screaming and running around not sure what to do and somehow in the commotion a fork was dropped close enough that Tony grabs the handle and roughly plunges it into the mans right eyes socket as blood begins to pour from the stabbed eyes Tony is attached to the man in a death grip. Nick is now actually trying to separate them but Tony has managed to coil around the man the a snake squeezing it's prey to death as he pushes the fork deeper into the mans eyes with deadly calm face as if he wasn't sprayed by blood in the face and chest.

"Say it again" Tony says darkly as he plunges the fork in the first time

"Aaahhh Stop!" The man cries scared and desperate once he can breathe again

"Go on, i'm all ears" Tony says pushing it deeper

"Tony get off him" Nick growls pulling roughly 

"S-S-She not your mother just some dumb lowlife whore" The man manages to grind out

"She is my mother and you'll regret ever sullying her name" Tony growls in his face nearly nose to nose

"Damn it Tony" Nick growls forcing him to throw the teen off the man and onto the ground

Tony growls from the ground where Nick has a knee in his back to keep him done as he grips the bloody fork in his hand with the mans eyeball still stuck on it and watches with sick happiness as the man screams and curls in on himself clutching at the empty socket pouring blood. Nick looks done and serious as he looks up at the scene and sighs thinking maybe this will be a little harder than he thought it would be but Maria's death is too raw barley a day old and Tony has only had a handful of interacts with people. Right now Tony is a hurting feral teenage boy and a dangerous one too and putting him in with the other team and into the dorm building right now was too risky but he doesn't have much of an option as to where he can put him. The team is his best of the students all coming from near similar backgrounds as Tony but far more socialize and were raised to be more sociable, Maria kept Tony safe but that meant very few interacts with other people in situations and she was his whole world because of that. With no choice Nick drag Tony back to the office and throws him on the couch before picking up the phone and calling his right hand man Phil who runs the teams dorm and told him to clean out the cell room for a new arrival and keep the path cleared for the arrival. Ending the call Nick looks back and sees that Tony has crushed the eye under his boots and is staring darkly at him itching for a fight and to make transport easier Nick calls in two agents good enough and big enough to handle the teenager.

Cailean MacUirigh is a six foot three muscle builder from a bounty hunter back ground used to dealing with people like Tony and big enough and strong enough to man handle him, he's got fair pinkish skin and slicked back short red hair and dark green eyes. He's wearing navy cargo pants tucked into black combat boots and a black long sleeve under a dark grey bomber jacket with SHIELD written across in big bold gold letters and a tactical belt around his waist holding his gun and a knife at the back. Ezrah Bryant is six foot five and a big strong muscular build like Cailean from an assassin background more than able to handle himself and others with creamy brown skin and black eyes the same shade as his black long dreads tied back in a pony tail. He's wearing black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots and scuffed metal knee pads, a black bomber jacket is pulled over a white tee and on top of that is a loosely put on bullet proof vest with the same gear as Cailean and grey camo cycling mask over his lower face.

Once Cailean and Ezrah arrive Nick has them escort Tony out making sure they have a tight grip on him while he picks up the bags and follows them out with Friday on his heels as they make for the parking garage and to his truck which luckily has bars between the rows of seats. Once Tony is tucked into the back seat Ezrah climbs in next to him as Cailean puts the bag in the trunk as Nick starts the truck and then joins him in the front seat with Friday whose smart enough not to get in the way of her angry human. Tony seems calm but everyone knows he's biding his time letting that angry simmer close to the surface ready to be taken out on the first thing to look his way wrongly, but for now it's better then restraining him any further than the hand cuffs. The drive isn't very long but it's tense and lucky for them Phil listened to the warning and the path from the front door is clear of people but that doesn't mean that they've hidden away, no they have just moved so they can see what's going since it's been a very long time since this has happened to any of them. Once in the door Tony throws his head back letting his body fall back with it and uses his heel to slam into the front of Ezrah's ankle with a sick amount for force making him stumble forward as Tony throws a fast sharp elbow into the back of his neck. It's quick fight though as Cailean slams Tony into the wall so Ezrah can get back on his feet before they tighten their grips on him and keeping walking watching him more closely. Once they reach the room at the back of the house Tony is thrown inside and the door is slammed shut behind him but not before Friday dashes in, from the inside the of room it's nothing but padded wall and bullet proof glass and no door knob, oh and it's sound proof. 

Inside alone with Friday Tony turns his sights on the door licking at the blood from his now broken nose that has run onto his lips and then kicks at the door not that he expected anything but worth a shot it did move which was nice but it was probably meant to so it was harder to wear down. Tony curses and kicks the door again now very loudly cursing Fury out but the sounds are barely heard from the outside as the door shakes slightly with each kick where Nick is waving off Cailean and Ezrah before pulling up the feed on his phone to see into the room with a live feed. Tony's bags are at his feet which was a very smart decision knowing weapons are in there and after a moment Nick looks up to see the confused and nervous faces of the other tenants and his right hand man. 

"Sir that's the shooter from yesterday" Phil says coming over to him a little concerned 

"Lock these up would you" Nick says nodding to the bags at his feet

"Of course but" Phil trails off as he picks them up immediately feeling the weapons

"Hopefully he calms down soon, sorry this is so sudden Coulson" Nick says finally addressing the matter

"I'm sure you have a reason" Phil says with a small smile as he picks up the bags

"I'll explain this to you tomorrow" Nick says as Phil takes the bags away

"You fucking cagna, i'm gonna kill you bastardo, wait till I get my hands on you fica" Tony is angrily yelling at the door riling himself up more

"That's enough" Nick says into the microphone as he watches the feed

"You don't cazzo tell me what to do you cagna" Tony screams kicking the door harder

"I said enough" Nick says into mic commanding and cold

"Cazzo cagna" Tony growls eyes landing on the camera watching him

"Just you wait Fury" Tony growls darkly glaring at the camera

"Cool your head, i'll be back tomorrow to check on you" Nick says and watches as Tony kicks the door with everything he has blood smeared across his face and splotching the bandages

"Cazzo cagna bastardo" Tony yells at the door

Nick doesn't bother watching anymore and shuts down the feed and leaves to let Tony run out of energy and get it all out before he comes back tomorrow and tries again but it will be a long while before he can trust Tony not to snap at anyone and until then measures will have to be taken. After leaving Nick heads to the office instead of heading home and back in the HQ building he makes his up to his office and sits down at his desk opening up the computers and waiting as they turn on. Once the computers are on Nick enters in his information and waits as they load up before he begins looking into what they have on Tony and his past before Maria took him from the home after finishing a job and after a while of searching he finds the hit and the ones who ordered it. HYDRA ordered that fateful hit on Howard Stark all those years ago but being an evil organization no traces as too why the hit was placed and why they didn't do it themselves but it was a start and Nick takes it digging further into anything that might be related to it. Knowing Howard worked on his own but was often contracted by the military or government Nick looks into that side of things more than just little things thinking the key to understanding this whole thing would lay in these archives. Finally after hours of sifting through documents, photos and notes Nick manages to find a locked folder which was very big and promised good things if it was locked unlike all the others he had looked through.

Inside this locked folder after a very long time of trying to open it he finds just what he needed but it wasn't what he wanted to see and with a heavy sigh and pushing the sickness and angry to the back of his mind Nick begins to read every single little thing the folder has to offer. Lets take a side note to explain things a little better about why this is an issue and how it relates to the story; Back during the Cold War many governments thought that while their organizations are grand they needed something better, something stronger to fight against the others hoping for the upper hand in the war of spies and assassins. So The United States of America, Russia, England, China, and Germany went to their most trusted insane scientists and doctors and asked them for their help letting them use orphans and volunteers as their test subjects for these secret cruel experiments. So projects like WINTER SOLDIER, BLACK WIDOW, BEAR, SUPER SOLDIER and CAT were born using humans as their test subjects in an experiment to create the better human weapons using cruel inhuman tools and serums to alter these people and make them better at what they intend to use them for.

Why can things never be easy Nick thinks as his eyes begin to burn from staring at the screens for so long at such a high focus but you never know what you may find or not find for that matter if you don't look carefully. It's a long night of folder after folder, picture after picture and video after video and yet nothing jumps out at him not even the locker folder until he reaches the very end of the folder and finds another locked folder inside. Thinking it might be something Nick after a few tries manages to crack it open and takes a look through it before going back to the first thing and begins to look it over very carefully.

This file on Howard Stark was the one he was most interested in but he does have a few other victims of these projects under him but for now he was more focused on Howard Stark and why HYDRA would want him killed without doing it themselves. Inside among many notes and documents are pictures of progress taken every day to show what has been done and even a few videos were in there and at the very back was a document showing that both the government and the military pulling Stark off the project teams. In that document it states that Stark was getting to crazy and dangerous pushing for more dangerous tests and tools to use to speed up the progress of the subjects and how far he can push the bodies and see what happens to them. It seems when Stark left he was angry beyond belief and stole from the facilities before taking the stolen goods home where he continued his tests and experiments on his own wife and new born son in private growing more insane and paranoid each day. With no funding he began mixing serums and experiments to try and achieve his insane idea of the best human weapon made to date and he might have done it but most of the records are destroyed or wiped clean after the hit. That meant like a few of the others teens Tony was a project made weapon but unlike the others who had some decent parts of their lives as subjects Tony was left to a mad man unsupervised allowed to do as he saw fit and from the photos and videos it's a mystery as to why the child survived at all.

It's late morning when Nick surfaces from the files and sighs deeply annoyed that some of the information which happened to be the most important parts were gone meaning that Tony is still uncharted territory but it also meant he could be treated as your average human. A plus is that in that dorm house are four project teen subjects so four out numbers the lone pissed off mystery project but still that wasn't safe even if they were there and the room was built to handle people like them. Cursing Nick gets up and grabs his jacket pulling it on as he marches down to his truck and climbs in starting the engine and driving down to the dorm house and walks in ignoring the kitchen full of tenants in favor of the door at the end of the hall. When he reaches the door Nick pulls it open and is met with a somewhat cool headed Tony Stark who is not very happy with him or anyone else for that matter but at least he's calmed down a little but from they way he holds himself Nick is beginning to think Tony has known what's wrong with him from day one and is playing it down for show.

"Feeling better?" Nick asks him noting that he's still wearing the handcuffs which may be a good sign

"Not really no" Tony muses but his voice and eyes are flat

"I'd take off your cuffs but i'm sure that won't end well" Nick says hand still holding the door

"You seem nervous old man, read something scary last night" Tony says cooly almost as if he already knew what happened

"I did actually, you're very clever aren't you Tony" Nick says and while the air is thick with tension so far it's still cool

"You could say that" Tony says with a slight shrug as his eyes glance over the mans shoulder

"Phil, why don't you stop right there" Nick says not even blinking just stays focused on the teens face

"Sir maybe-" Phil begins to say cautiously before he's cut off

"No. It's fine really, right Tony?" Nick says almost challenging the teen

"For now at least" Tony hums as he reads the mans body language 

"That's right for now at least" Nick agrees tensing slightly before forcing himself to relax

"Scared?" Tony ponders almost teasing 

"Too bad you're not human Tony. If you were maybe I could relax a bit" Nick says and the air shifts as hearts pound faster


	5. Action

"Too bad you're not human Tony. If you were maybe I could relax a bit" Nick says and the air shifts as hearts pound faster

"Well played" Tony says a little impressed

"Hold on, what the fuck is going on here?!" Phil gushes grabbing Nick by the shoulder shocked and confused

"It seems that there was one project left unchecked" Nick says and now it clicks in Phil's head

"Project? Like human testing project?" Phil says not wanting to believe it

"Meet the one and only test subject for project HellHound" Nick tells him ans everyone is shocked 

"Makes it sound worse than it really is" Tony hums as if it was nothing though to him it is nothing

"How!? There would have been records" One of the teens says coming closer confused

"Not if it wasn't approved" Tony says eyes sliding to the teen before moving back to Nick's face

"How long have you known?" Nick asks him since that is now the only way to get answers

"How long do you think?" Tony questions with a sick smile on his face as he leans in closer

"It really is a shame" Nick sighs with a minute shake of his head

"Come now Fury you can't really be disappointing unless" Tony muses before trailing off his a little laugh as he pulls back

"Did you do it?" Nick questions him knowing only Tony is following along

"Could a four year old do what you're thinking" Tony muses flexing his fingers amused now

"You-" Another teens says not following but now concerned over what's happening

"Here's a hint old boy i'm not lost property" Tony says with a smirk almost gloating 

"Now you fucking tell me" Nick snaps grabbing the teen by the front of his shirt and drags him down the hall

"Don't move" Nick snaps once they reach the kitchen pushing the teen into the isle as he looks through drawers

"Sir what is going on?" Phil says following anxious 

"This place has a scrambler doesn't it" Nick says pulling out a knife as he turns to look at the other man

"Of course but" Phil says a little confused

"You better hope it's working" Nick says unlocking the cuffs letting them fall to the ground

"Bruce I think you need to go get the first aid box" Phil breathes out gently pushing the boy in that direction 

"How's your pain tolerance?" Nick asks the teen as he shrugs off his jacket

"Kinky" Tony says winking at the older man 

"Really? Don't care, where the fuck is it?" Nick says rolling his eyes holding up the knife

"Boring, the back of my neck at the base" Tony huffs with a roll of his eyes

"I got it" 'Bruce' calls coming in with a large white and red box

"Thank you Bruce" Phil says as Nick puts the knife to the teens skin

Tony barely feels the knife sink into his skin and the drag as it slices him open but he does feel the warm sluggish trail the blood leaves as it rolls down under his shirt soaking the material as he crosses his arms over his chest and waits but he doesn't have much feeling these days anyway. It was stupid of the man to think Howard would leave his one and only test subject that actually worked without a safe guard but where he hooked the tracker up he doesn't really know or care since all he's ever had to do is take out the people after him. Sure Maria did a huge part in keeping the herd thin and making sure they were hard to track but some people can be stubborn and he's sure the people who knew about Howard's little pet project were very interested in taking the final product. Sure the spiders, bears, soldiers, cats and so on were and are very great but a HellHound now that was interesting and the way Howard had written about it and bragged about it seemed like it was near the top of the list and maybe even the best experiment outcome. 

It did occur to him that Maria never taking the chip out was weird but he's sure she had a reason and for some reason knowing the chip was there and not taking it out himself was also strange but that's a though for another time, right now he needed to get out of his head and pay attention. Bringing himself out of his head Tony becomes aware of a pair of tweezers poking around in his neck looking for the chip before it's pulled out along side the chip and set down on the counter as Nick holds a towel to his neck with one hand as he sets the tools down. Tony doesn't like this, being surrounded by this many people four of which feel the same as him is making him hyper aware as he's sure the others are feeling but right now that padded cell is looking real nice. Something must have tipped the other subjects off since they've backed off a few steps as well as the few other teens following the others lead knowing they probably know best and right now he's sure no one is too comfortable being around him. He can hear Nick click his tongue before the towel is moved and he can feel the burn of alcohol being poured onto the wound making him twitch almost making him react which wasn't good since now he knows they know. After a long few minutes the wound is stitched closed and a patch is put over top of the stitching to keep it better protected for them moment at least and Nick moves away from his back making him reach above and over his shoulder pulling the shirt back breaking up where it had stuck to his skin releasing the slight itch.

Looking back a bit Tony runs a hand through his hand and then looks at the open door to the house which for some reason no one had closed and Friday is sitting in the door way watching him intensely as if waiting to give him the signal to make a run for it. After a few tense moments of which Tony managed to stealthy swipe the knife used to cut out the chip and hide it in his pocket and glancing over at Friday again this time she gives him a little nod and after a deep breath Tony goes to pick up his jacket as if it was normal. Once the jacket is in hand he moves quickly vaulting over the isle and running for the door picking up Friday at the same time and then begins to make it to the nearest alley which luckily isn't far since by the shouts they have made chase already. Running in the urban wilderness brings life into him again as he parkour his way through the winding alleys and apartment buildings loosing more the farther he goes and knowing not to go back to Maria's place he makes a different plan. Tony plans to take one and only one risk but it's a huge one he knows Nick will realize very early on but it was worth the shot and so after hours of running and hiding he makes his way to Nogai's and after breaking in carefully he heads down to the basement. Once there Tony makes sure the coast is clear before moving over to one of the freezer slots in the wall and pulls it open sliding her body out and knowing he has to be quick Tony places a kiss to her head and with a sad smiles says his parting words before leaving just as quick and quiets as when he entered.

Once he's out Tony begins to make his way in land to the other states stealing some fresh clothes along the way which are a pair of tactical pants he tucks into his black roughed up combat boots, a black tee, a grey hoodie and a dull green utility jacket with fur lining the hood. He picked up the pieces here and there before catching the ferry off the bus out of town and slips a black baseball cap low on his head he swiped off a passer buyer at the bus station and tucks Friday into his jacket to keep her hidden. Taking the backseat of the bus Tony sits down next to the window and sits back with a little sigh of relief but now a dull pain is settling in over his body and he's not sure why but somehow being apart of something scared him and not maybe things do but whatever the reason he ran. Maria taught him well and his instincts are stellar so it'll take awhile for them to catch his trail setting the lock down to late for the moment by it'll be harder until he gets further away and until then he'll have to bide his time wisely. As he sits on the bus as the sun begins to set already out of the city he takes an inventory of what he has on him at the moment which will help make his next move; A knife in his boot hidden away, a bloody kitchen knife in the other boot hidden, a big wad of cash, no phone he ditched that one someone when he was grabbing the jacket, Friday, an almost full back of cigarettes, a lighter, wire saw, and a bobby pin. 

For now it's more than enough all he needs now is a safe house hopefully near either the Mexican or Canadian border and maybe pick up a few other things along the way but right now he has more than enough so he lets himself rest a bit dozing to keep his energy up. At the first stop for gas Tony gets out and buys a water bottle and some jerky breaking off tiny buts for Friday as he gulps down the water after giving her some and then devouring the jerky still a little agitated and wound up at this point. He makes sure the hat is low and the hood is up covering every detail so they can't pick him out easily and for the most part avoids cameras which is not as hard as one would think or at least for him but since he and Maria were to isolated to make contacts they could trust he's alone in this thing. Friday is a huge comfort and by now SHIELD has gone to Nogai's and while Tony feels a bit bad but he's sure Nogai will be fine since he is an important informant for them at this point though all parties know that won't work. For now he's just planning one step ahead of those agents and right now all he needs is to get to Manchester in Connecticut which is only a few hours and then he'll need to wait and then catch the next transit slowly making his way up to Quebec and jumping borders. This may be getting harder if those Projects share input probably thinking along the same lines as him but for now he's a step ahead and once he jumps borders it will make a big difference but they must be rushing to beat him to that point.

Right now Tony is using cities for cover being much harder to find and keep track of him but once he gets close enough he'll make for the wilderness bypassing the security for the most part and once again harder to keep up with him in the wilderness since it's like a city. Tony is smart smarter than many and he's going to use it as well as his skills that were forced upon him not that he ever really minded since he was just a test subject from the minute of his untimely birth and he's the only final working perfect product so there is that. Either way Tony isn't gonna go easy whether he changes his mind about trying out this team thing or not he wants it on his chess board not Nick's and right now he doesn't want people he wants to be alone and do as he pleases. Just a couple more hours before he'll take to the alleys before taking the next way out and hopefully in the next few days he'll have made it to the border before they get to close and take off into Canada and just keeping going north.

He moves slowly going from area the area, transit to transit, corner store to corner store until finally he gets close enough the change his plan and begins to make it towards upper point of the border by Maine and begins to grab a few things before making it into the parks and wilderness. Once he has everything Tony begins to hitch hike closer before he decides to make it on foot which is much less complicated as using other people and easier to hide if a patrol comes along or he's questioned along the way. It's nice but he can't make much progress this way even if it is the better option so he takes his time and lets himself think about the pros and cons of going back with SHIELD or with whoever else is after him but those ones are not as easy to figure out. 

It's been a few days when Tony finally gets close enough that he uses the woods for cover to cross the border and taking very slow and calculated steps he begins to pick through making sure not to move to fast or to far in one day and he's not quite close enough to make a mad dash for the border either. Tony had sensed someone before he ditched city and town for woods but whatever it was either made it harder to sense them or left and right now he didn't have time for that so instead focused on covering his tracks and making as much headway as he dares. It rained earlier which made covering tracks harder and according to the papers he had read it's supposed to rain some more which also slowed him down in making way so he can't be easily followed and every now and then a feeling comes and after stopping to feel it out it goes away again.

Again Tony is making it through the woods for the second day moving slowly on purpose not aware of the fact someone other than SHIELD has been following him and this person means far more harm than any other person chasing him and right now he's in some serious danger. Tony follows Friday letting himself drift between thoughts and his surroundings when he passes a cave like shelter and suddenly out of nowhere a pair of arms reach out for him, one goes to cover his mouth while the other wraps around his waist surprising him as he's dragged back into a small shelter by someone far bigger than him. Panicked Tony begins to struggle against the body he's trapped against as well as struggling to breathe around the giant fat hand being held over his mouth and blocking his nose as Friday hisses getting ready to pounce to save her human from this mystery person holding him down. Tony gets dazed when the body behind him slams him down onto the ground on his back making his head hit a rock causing him to bleed from the head wound as he's straddled and a wad of cloth is shoved into his mouth making him gag on it as he glares up the person. The man is really big with short blonde hair and is clearly not someone good as one of his big meaty hands wraps around Tony's wrists pulling them above his head as he struggles to fight back kicking out and yelling into the cloth. Somewhere along the line in the struggle his jacket got lost and the hoodie he's wearing has been unzipped as the man uses his free hand to roam along his upper body while he licks his lips and now Tony is really beginning to panic as fear enters him like hot venom through his veins. 

If he's lucky he'll get the chance to grab a knife out of his boot and stab the man but second best option is that the deep struggle and drag tracks will alert SHIELD if they're close and he'll get rescued from this giant beast of a man which makes him think he's a BEAR subject. After a few more minutes of struggling the man grabs Tony's shirt and rips leaving the shirt in tears before he removes the shirt pieces all together leaving him bare chested in his open hoodie fighting even harder now as the mans free hand slides up to his neck and he leans in close placing his lips to Tony's ear and whispers something Tony didn't really want to know. Luckily the chance arrives after a few tense moments at that time of the whispers as Friday pulls a knife from his boot and moves silently to bring it to his hand as the man pulls back and begins to start kissing along his body and free hand moving to his pants but in the nick of time the knife is close to his hand. Gripping the knife Tony twists it so he can stab the mans wrist making him let go in a startled shout pulling back to stare at his hand before he slams his fist into Tony's head making the bleed and possible concussion worse but Tony manages to get the cloth out of this mouth making him gag and coughing. 

Coughing and light headed Tony stabs the knife into the mans shoulder making him pull back again far enough that Tony is able to throw him off and rolls to the side before getting into a knelled crouch as the man gets up on all fours and whips around to glare at him as an arm reaches for him. Tony manages to parry the arm and slams the knife into the mans chest using it and his body to knock the man onto his back and get on top not wasting any time and in frantic panic and anger he stabs him over and over again. It must be a half hour later when Tony manages to stop himself and slips off the man shaking all over but still manages to be tightly holding the knife as he tries to calm his mind but it's not working well. After after a few more minutes alone with the body in the cave like shelter he begins to hear the sound of approaching footsteps and that isn't even enough to pull him from this tired given up state. Tony barely lifts his head to look over at the opening, still kneeling slumped next to the mans mutilated bloody body and he himself looking very rough covered in blood with the knife still in hand and enough evidence on him and around him that it's pretty obvious what happened.

"Happy now" Tony says voice quiet and dead when he sees whose standing there in the entrance 

"Not at all" Nick sighs waving the others back so they didn't have to see this

"Phil bring me a blanket" Nick says looking over his shoulder and calling out

"Are you hurt?" Nick asks Tony taking the blanket from the other man who stays quiet but his eyes are understanding

"I'm Fine" Tony says as he struggles to get onto his feet and stand up

"We'll meet you at the trucks" Phil says before ordering everyone back to the trucks

"You're more trouble than you're worth" Nick says holding out the blanket with a soft smirk

"I get that a lot" Tony says eyes softening as he takes the blanket

Nick doesn't say anything more and just ruffles the teens hair as he pulls on the blanket and wraps it around himself as the shaking subsides but it's clear Tony needs to sleep and pretty badly too but that can wait until they get to the trucks not that Tony has decided not to run anymore. For not at least. Tony follows behind Nick with Friday at his heels using a corner of the blanket to wipe off some of the blood splattered all over his face not worry about below the neck for now since he's covered but his hands are still dripping and both him and Friday are leaving bloody foot prints. When they get to the trucks everyone is quiet, some even avert their gazes as Nick opens the back of one of the trucks doors and Tony climbs in lucky to have just Nick and another agent in there with him. Once the door slams closed behind him Friday jumps up onto his lap and curls up as Tony puts on the seat belt and rests his head against the window probably leaving a blood print on there but that's not his concern at the moment. As the agent turns up the heating Tony lets the exhaustion take over and finally falls asleep missing a good half or more of the drive back to New York but he's not taken back to the dorm house instead taken back to SHIELD and taken to the medical wing. Once he's there they give him a new set of clothes to where after he showers and then they can take a look at his wounds and give him a full check up before they move on the figuring out the next steps and where to go from here.

Tony puts up no struggle and stays quiet the whole time taking the clothes and heading to the shower where he strips down tossing his clothes onto the ground by the door and setting the new ones down on the little bench before stepping under the hot spray. Friday lays down just outside the shower as Tony lets the water run over his watching as the red water slowly turns back to clear before he begins to scrub at his skin until he feels clean enough to get out and dry off before putting on the new set of clothes. They gave him a pair of navy blue combat pants a smidgen too big, socks, a white long sleeve that fits him well and then a too big black bomber jacket with the SHIELD logo on the back which he puts on before putting on his own underwear and combat boots. The kitchen knife he had used was gone but the hidden throwing knife was still there but Tony doesn't have much fight left him right now and just wants this to be over for a while until he feels like himself again so for now SHIELD is his best bet. Changed and out an agent takes him to the med wing where they deal with the injuries and wrap them up again after taking off the old ones and once he's done another agent takes him up to Fury's office where the man is already waiting for him. 

He's left alone once he's there and sinks into the couch as Friday jumps up onto the back of the couch before draping herself over his shoulders like a warm bean bag with soft fuzzy fur, after a few moments Nick slides a ash tray closer to the end of the desk and Tony gets up from the couch and comes over. Inside the ash tray was a pack of cigs and a lighter that Tony picks up and pops one in his mouth before lighting it up and sits in one of the chairs to sit across from the older man and lets the smoke out in a long slow sigh.

"Feeling a little better?" Nick asks after the first smoke release 

"Less cold I guess" Tony mutters not looking up from his boots

"I won't make you go back to the dorm house" Nick tells him closing something on his computer screens

"I couldn't care less" Tony says holding a palm to his temple before letting it drop back into his lap

"I know" Nick tells him averting his gaze to the cat to make the teen more comfortable 

"So what now?" Tony asks after a few more moments pass

"I'll let you go back to Maria's apartment for a while on the condition you stay in contact and answer when I call" Nick tells him and that was a surprise 

"For real?" Tony says suspicious 

"For a little while" Nick says nodding 

"Deal" Tony says putting out the butt of the cigarette 

"Agent Col's will take you to get your bags and then drive you back" Nick says waving someone in

Tony nods and leaves with the agent who takes him back to the dorm house where Phil is waiting with his bags ready by the door and after a few quiet words Tony grabs his bags and sets them down on his shoulder before heading back to the agent waiting in the car. Tony doesn't care if the other teens were in there and watching for now he just want's to go and when he's dropped off he heads inside and up to Maria's apartment and heads in locking the door behind him, dropping the bags down on the couch as he makes his way into the bedroom. Once he's at the foot of the bed Tony kicks off his boots and crawls into the bed turning up the heating as he crawls under the covers and then falls asleep hoping not to wake up for a long time. Friday waits on the bed watching until he falls asleep before she checks out the apartment and heads back into the bedroom jumping up onto the bed and walking right up to before getting on her belly and crawling until she fit snug under his chin and falls asleep herself. After a handful of hours Friday wakes up and makes her way to the kitchenette turning on the tap to drink before going to the food cupboard and pulls it open getting into the food container to eat her fill before spotting the cell phone poking out of a bag Nick supplied Tony with. Knowing that was important Friday takes the phone with her back into the bedroom and puts it down on the bed beside Tony in case the phone goes off and he doesn't get up and look for it missing the call. It's late lunch when the phone rings the next day at some loud ass fucking annoying ring tone from god knows where set by Nick knowing how bad it is so cracking his eye open Tony pats around until his hand lands on the phone and he answers it with a yawn.

"What?" Tony yawns into the phone getting comfortable again even closing his eye

"Good afternoon to you to" Nick says into the phone

"I repeat, what?" Tony says rolling onto his back and stretching 

"Just checking in on you" Nick says as Friday meows and walks onto his chest

"I'm home" Tony says rolling his eyes as a hand runs over Friday's fur

"Oh I know" Nick says and Tony looks around

"Really?" Tony asks getting up padding over the corner of the room where a tiny camera eye is hiding 

"Just be glad there isn't one in the bathroom" Nick says and Tony can hear the smirk

"Your loss" Tony says turning to leave the bathroom

"How do you feel?" Nick asks getting them back on track

"Like shit but better" Tony says flipping the coffee machine on

"I'll introduce it to you slowly so don't take off on me again" Nick says before hanging up

Tony slips the phone into his pocket, shrugs off the jacket tossing it aside and flips off the nearest camera as he grabs a mug and fills up Friday's dishes as he waits for the coffee to finish and then with coffee in hand he grabs a bag of jerky and heads to the couch opening the laptop and putting on a show. To be fair he didn't move the large duffel bag and instead sat on the one without any weapons in it which he needs to put away in the proper places or at least her's at some point in the next few days. Tony eats and watches as he ponders what introducing him slowly meant as if it was someone adopting a stray dog and now it needs to be introduced to it's new house mates which okay it kind of is but he's not some stray dog to be taken in or well he thinks so at least. So for the next few days Tony putters around the apartment giving him time to feel normal again and the daily chats with Nick are kind of nice not that he'd tell anyone that but you know it's the thought that counts, but after a week and a half he's back to normal and maybe a tiny bit less feral towards Nick only though.

So the week and a half passes before a knock on his door wakes him up and being Tony he grabs the nearest hand gun and prods over to the door hiding it from sight as he open it and sees an agent standing there so with a roll of his eyes he slips the gun into his waist band behind him and lets them in. They come in suspicious of him as he lights up a cigarette before turning to face him, they aren't like the usual agents sent for him or he's dealt with this one is young his age roughly and not dressed like one either. She's shorter than him and thin with pale rosy skin and long blonde hair with big blue eyes, she's wearing a baby blue cold shoulder long sleeve shirt with a black tennis skirt with a white line around the bottom and a pair of knee high black socks matching her black ankle boot heels. 

"Hi i'm Laura" 'Laura' says holding out her hand towards him, thin finger and long manicured nails match the light airy voice she has

"Anthony" Tony says slowly shaking her hand unsure how to interact with someone like her

"Nice to meet you, i'm here to take you to SHIELD" Laura says relaxing as she smiles up at him, kitten like personality 

"Let me change" Tony says passing her and heading into the bedroom closing the door behind him

"Hello kitty" Is all he hears before the door is closed

Tony pulls the gun out and lays it on the bed as he begins getting changed taking off the jogging pants and grabbing out a pair of grey harem utility pants, his boots, a black tee and a black hoodie with a high cowl neck and a black snap back before tucking a knife into his boot and another up his sleeve. Stepping out ready to go Tony ignores the slight blush that crosses the girls cheeks and lets Friday jump up onto him draping her self around his neck before he leads Laura out of the building giving her props coming alone like that to this area. As soon as they step out Tony lights up another cigarette noticing the crowd of younger guys click their tongues and turn away knowing now that she came for someone and don't want to step on toes. Tony watches her shoulders relax when she sees them turn around but says nothing and just keeps following her until they get to the headquarters and enter the building which does nothing to stop him from smoking his freshly lit cigarette. As soon as they step in eyes are on them making her a little nervous by the looks of it as she shyly tucks some hair behind her ear and lowers her gaze a bit but the farther they walk in the more she seems to gain confidence and a shout of her name makes her look up.

"Laura!" A shout down the hall comes making her look up

"Ah guys" She says moving forward with a smile eager to meet them

"What's going on?" One of the three other teens ask eyeing Tony who look very vaguely familiar 

"I went to go pick up Tony" Laura says gesturing to him now some what trusting of him

"A Widow" Tony says eyeing the red haired teen who eyes him back

"Laura, where am I supposed to go?" Tony says leaning down and close to her as a slight blush takes over her again

"Um Director Fury's office" Laura says trying to ignore her own blush

Nodding Tony walks off ignoring the loud chattering as he heads for the office as Friday pads along next to him bored of sitting around needing to stretch her legs a bit, along the way Tony can see people move out of his way both obviously and trying to hide it. It doesn't bother him in fact he prefers it but that little blonde was a surprise from on guard around him to comfortable in his presence so quickly was a little weird but seeing as she seems to be friends the spider chick and maybe more could be why. The thing isn't a big deal more of just an intro into SHIELD and what he'll do as part of the team and so on boring stuff really and when the day is done Tony gets to go home and relax among his community that has watched him grow up and become part of his family.

The next times he's bothered at home is a few days later when the door is busted open but the immediate smell of honey and jasmine let's Tony know that there is no danger and that it's just Akko one of the other tenants that took a very strong liking to him when she moved here from Japan. Akko isn't like what most people think when they think Japanese girls since she's 5'10 with tanned skin covered in tattoos over a very toned curvy body and long shaggy black hair and ice blue eyes like a snakes. Akko is known for her use of little clothes and her long fancy Chinese pipe she likes to smoke from so when Tony hears her come he's not surprised by her clothes which are a pair of unbuttoned short shorts and a black bra under a nearly transparent dragon kimono jacket. So cracking an eye open when the door is opened roughly and the sound of heels clicks across his floor he sits up just in time to cover his ears as she calls out to him happy and a little more high pitch than usual meaning she wasn't alone probably.

"Puppy-kun!" Akko calls out as she enters the place with no hesitation 

"Akko don't be so fucking loud in the morning" Tony near growls emerging from the bedroom in just a pair of green army pants to glare at her

"Ah~ Don't be so mean puppy-kun" Akko whines going to crush him but he easily dodges her moving to the side

"Get to the point Akko i'm sure you're busy" Tony sighs rolling his eyes finally letting her cling onto him

"Never for you" Akko coos nuzzling the top of his head being even taller in her huge ass black platform heels 

"Lucky me" Tony groans elbowing her in the stomach to get her to let go

"Just like a puppy" Akko laughs since he didn't do it hard enough to hurt her on purpose 

"I get it Akko, now what do you want?" Tony says ignoring her for Friday

"Fine" Akko sighs but she's smiling at him

"I brought that little blonde girl and her friends up for you" Akko says taking a puff of her pipe with a smirk

"Who?" Tony says not getting it or caring for that matter

"Kitty-chan" Akko coos holding her hand up to the girls height

"Kitten? That SHIELD chick Laura?" Tony looks at her unimpressed as Friday jumps out of his arms

"That's the one" Akko says snapping her fingers at the name as said girl peeks into the room

"Yeah, okay, thanks Akko" Tony says brushing her off with a slight roll of his eyes

"Come and play with me later puppy-kun" Akko calls over her shoulder as she leaves in a whirl of smoke and fabric 

"Goddamn loud ass cagna" Tony groans has he runs a hand through his hair

"Good morning Tony" Laura says coming in shyly

"Little agent" Tony nods at her pulling on a zip up hoodie laying around 

"I hope you don't mind a few others tagged along with me" Laura says entering the room a little nervous

"Don't care" Tony dismisses her more interested in lighting up his cigarette

"Good" Laura cheers a little clapping her hands together with a smile

"Come on in" Laura says looking at the door while Tony opens an energy drink and takes a gulp

"Now then Tony this is Natasha, Clint and Sam" Laura introduces them one of which he remembers 

Natasha is roughly Tony's height at 5'8-9 but slim and toned with snow white skin, bright vibrant green eyes and long red to blonde ombre hair a pair of black short shorts with a black and white jersey shirt and a pair of black combat boots with her hair in a long braid. Clint is wider set than him and inch or so shorter with pale skin and short messy blonde hair and blue eyes but he looks toned or muscular at least and he's wearing a pair of army green cargo shorts with brown combat boots, a white tee and a black hoodie. Sam is tall maybe an inch taller than him with really short black hair and dark skin with a toned slim body and dark brown eyes, he's wearing a pair of dark tighter fit jeans with black combat boots, a dull green tee and a black SHIELD jersey jacket. Today Laura has her hair up in a pony tail and she's wearing a short pale pink sundress and a pair of pale purple T-strap heels as well as a cream cardigan a size too big for her.

"Guys this is Tony" Laura says pointing at Tony 

"Hello" Sam says giving a little wave

"Hey ya fuckin brat!" A loud shout comes from the window

"What now" Tony groans moving over to the window opening it so he can look out

"Tony is there-" Laura begins to say but she's cut off

"Hey Frank get your hands off her" Tony angrily yells out the window

"Mind your business kid" A shout comes back just as angry 

"Atka come here" Two identical girls voice shout from on the street as well 

"Emmalyn, Nylamme bring her upstairs" Tony calls out ignoring the group behind him

"You heard him hand her over" Emmalyn says as Nylamme moves for the girl

"You dare-" Frank starts to say

"Ya I dare" Emmalyn says punching him knocking him back

"Come on Atka" Nylamme says picking up the kid

"Tony is everything alright?" Laura asks as he closes the window again

"Ya, it's fine" Tony says moving into the hall

"I don't think you should be coming here anymore" Sam whispers to Laura after Tony is out of the room

"Hey Anyu open the door!" Tony shouts pounding on a door down the hall a little bit

"Tony?" A voice says back shaky and suspicious 

"Who else open the door" Tony says pounding on it some more

The group look out in the hall just in time to see two identical girls come up with a girl in hand whose maybe six years old, both older girls have long blonde hair with tanned skin and blue eyes while the smaller girl has dark tanned skin with white blonde hair and dull green eyes. While one of the twins is wearing ripped black daisy dukes and a black nasa tee with black ankle heeled boots the other twin is wearing white daisy duke shorts with a white nasa tee and a pair of white converse shoes and both have their hair in half up do's. The little girl is wearing a pair of yellow overall shorts and a white tee shirt underneath with her hair up in two loose pony tails and a pair of little yellow converse shoes on her feet as she holds on of each twins hands.

"Tones" Both twins call out at the same time with a smile

"Dammit Anyu open the door" Tony says as the little girl pulls away

"Mommy" Atka calls out running over to Tony

"Atka" Anyu calls out worried as she throws open the door eyes wide and searching 

"Agents?" Both twins question as they walk past Tony rooms mildly interested 

"Are you in trouble Tones" Both girls tease poking at him as they pass him

"Knock it off" Tony says swatting off the offending fingers making the girls laugh 

"I swear Anyu if you let that asshole in one more time" Tony warns the woman before turning around to face the opposing door 

"Hey Monique, Anyu let Frank in again" Tony calls into the apartment form the door way

"Seriously!?" A woman's voice is heard a tiny bit annoyed

"Babe we talked about this" Monique says storming out of her apartment brushing by Tony to face the other woman

"Don't forget your baby you air head" Tony mutters picking up the crawling child passing it off to the french woman

"God I want one quiet morning in this damn place" Tony nearly shouts storming back into his own place

"Listen-" Laura says as he brushes past her

"I know I know, let me get changed" Tony says annoyed slamming the bedroom door behind him

"It's not so bad" Laura says hoping to calm her friends a bit

"At least it's not as bad as I would have thought" Natasha offers her looking around

After a few minutes Tony comes out in the same pants now tucked into a pair of old scuffed up black combat boots, a white tee and black bomber jacket unzipped just in time for another shout from the street alerts residents and instead of checking Tony just storms out now pissed off and tired as the group quickly follows after him confused by the people in the area. As they go past other tenants who greet Tony in passing as they go about their lives until they get to the bottom and an old lady from the front desk calls out to Tony.

"Hey kiddo Jerry's making cookies make sure you stop by when you get back" The old woman yells from around her cigar 

"If I feel like it Eva" Shouts over his shoulder lighting up his cigarette as he pushes open the door

In the middle of the street two teams of six are fighting as people stay out of the way shouting knowing one of the groups isn't from here so it's obviously a terf thing or something like that and a woman is on the ground near by holding a broken nose with tears in her eyes as another woman kneels by her side with an arm over her shoulder.

"What the fuck is going on?" Tony growls to another bystander an older man sitting outside with the newspaper smoking

"Oh you know, Mario and Angelo getting into another scuffle, poor Lidia was dragged into this one" The old man says flippantly

"I thought they made a deal to do this shit somewhere else" Tony says running a hand through his hair annoyed 

"So did we" A woman says going the man with a cup of coffee

"No one gonna break it up?" Tony says gesturing to the fight

"O'Malley left town for a few days yesterday morning" The woman says taking a sip of her coffee

"Fine" Tony sighs moving over to another bystander 

The group watch as he asks the other man for something and he's handed a gun which he first fires just outside the brawl making them all jump away from the bullet surprised as they look around he unloads another one further separating them as they land on him.

"Mario fuck off, you know the deal you made" Tony snaps at one of the men

"Keep your nose out of this son" The man growls back at him

"Oh for fucks sake I'm the one with the gun" Tony says firing it again up into the sky this time to make a point

"And you Angelo look at your damn wife and look what you did" Tony snaps aiming the gun at Lidia 

"This is-" Angelo starts to say

"I don't give a fuck!" Tony yells glaring both leaders done making them jump

"Too much damn noise and fighting this morning, I am done with this shit" Tony yells gesturing around with the gun

"I'm taking Lidia inside, thanks Anthony" The second woman says helping the first to her feet

"Here's whats gonna happen, Mario you are going to leave and Angelo you are going to think about this while Luce tends to your fucking wife because your a dumb fuck and I swear to god if someone calls about some shit like this again today I'm burning this whole fucking place to the ground" Tony yells before roughly handing the man back his gun and storming off clicking his tongue as the group follows after him

A glance back shows the group that the men are parting while the rest of the residents look amused and proud of what just happened as things quiet down once again. The way back to shield is quiet and a little tense no one spoke letting the teen have some space until they get to the building and be lines for the directors office where he flops down heavily on the couch running both hands over his face roughly before slumping in his seat glaring at the man while he sucks his teeth. Fury raises a brow at him before he hangs up the phone and leans his elbows on the desk before resting his chin on his hands and waits for a few moments before Tony gives in and tell him what happened this morning before he got here. 

"Don't send anyone anymore it's fucking annoying" Tony snaps at him 

"Human interaction Tony" Fury reminds him bored and stoic as always 

"Fuck that" Tony grumbles rolling his eyes aggressively

"I'm going to introduce you to them team today. Just introductions" Fury says before he can be cut off 

"Maria was funner" Tony states annoyed 

"Ya because she didn't make you meet and interact with people" Fury says rolling his eye now

"Ya funner" Tony argues moodily still glaring

"Chew this and lets go" Fury sighs tossing him a lollipop as he gets up

"Stranger danger" Tony mumbles getting up chomping down on the lollipop crushing it between his teeth

Tony follows the man through the building looking around memorizing the place and by the time they get to this debriefing room Tony is just chewing in the stick as something to do since Fury already scolded him once for kicking over an agent bent down as they were walking past. In the room Fury forces him into a chair and stands right behind him annoying Tony even more and it was clear on his face by Phil's sudden change in attitude and posture. 

"Fix your face" Fury grinds out annoyed knocking his fist against the top of Tony's head

"Or what?" Tony questions him swaying the chair lightly unable to keep still

"Fuck!" Tony shouts after Fury slaps him hard from behind one on each cheek sandwiching his head

"Shall we start sir?" Phil asks as Tony grumbles under his breath rubbing his cheeks

"Let's start" Fury tells him letting him go first

"As the six of you know i'm Phil Coulson, i'll be your handler and you'll be in my care as well" Phil is about 5'10 with fair skin a toned lean body with short slicked back light blonde hair and pale blue eyes, he's wearing navy combat pants tucked into black combat boots and a black tee with a navy hoodie tied around his waist with a thigh holster attached to his combat belt

"I'm Steve Rogers, i'm eighteen turning nineteen and i'm a SUPER SOLDIER" Steve is maybe six foot with pale fair skin with a muscular dorito shaped body with short straw blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he's wearing light blue jeans with tan timberlands and a white tee stretch across his chest

"This is Bucky but his real name is James Barnes he's turning nineteen soon and is a WINTER SOLDIER" Steve says for his shadow sitting next to him, Bucky is about six one with fair skin and a muscular dortio shaped body with a full metal left arm and shoulder length brown hair tied back with pale ice blue eyes, he's wearing a pair of black jeans with black combat boots and a black tee with a red zip up hoodie over top

"Sam Wilson, i'm seventeen and i'm normal I guess" Sam is about 5'9 with a lean muscular body with dark brown skin and short black hair with light brown eyes, he's wearing dark blue jeans with grey converse sneakers and a red tee but he's also got a set of dog tags around his neck that catches Tony's attention

"Clint Barton, i'm turning seventeen this year and i'm normal too I guess and i'm deaf so I have hearing implants" Clint is about 5'8 with a toned stockier build of pale skin with short messy dirty blonde hair and cool brown eyes, he's wearing dull dark green cargo shorts with grey combat boots and a pastel purple long sleeve

"Natasha Romanov, i'm turning eighteen this year and i'm a BLACK WIDOW" Natasha is about 5'6 with a toned slim curvy body of pale skin with long red hair that turns to blonde at the bottom and bright green eyes, she's wearing tight black jeans with black combat boots and a grey tank under a black baseball jacket

"I'm Bruce Banner, um i'm seventeen and i'm a BEAR" Bruce shyly says fidgeting, he's about 5'8 with a mop of light brown curly hair and thin black rimmed glasses over timid brown eyes with fair skin and a toned stockier build, he's wearing tan chinos with green converse sneakers and a black pull over hoodie 

"This is Tony, he's turning seventeen this year and he's a HELLHOUND" Fury explains to them, Tony is around 5'7 with a toned lean build with freckles sun kissed skin and whiskey brown eyes with wild wavy dark brown hair with an undercut and you can see the few pairings he has which are double lower lobe small black gauges, industrial bar, conch, and tragus between both ears

"Can I go now?" Tony grumbles slumped in his chair still swaying and annoyed with his arms crossed over his chest candy stick gone

"Is he joining the team?" Sam asks curious why they were here

"Yes, though it will be awhile before he can truly join the team" Phil explains to them ignoring the angry glare Tony is sending him

"You got something to say agent" Tony says lowly lips curled in a snarl

"Right, socialization is over for today" Fury says grabbing Tony by the back collar of his shirt and jacket hauling him to his feet

"Dismissed" Fury tells them marching Tony out of the room

"Can I go home now?" Tony grinds out as they walk down the hall

"Yes, you can leave now" Fury says letting go of him

Tony rolls his eyes and leaves making quick work getting back to the neighborhood where a crowd has gathered so Tony wanders over pushing his way to the front to see the crowd circling a brawl as people shout and wave money since it looks like a friendly street fight where anyone can join in. Tony ponders the thought for a moment before she shrugs off his jacket and puts it down on the ground and nudges the caller telling him he wants in on the next fight which seemed to please the man as he calls the fight eager to start the next one pining Tony up against a man much bigger than him. This is just what he needs Tony thinks as the fight starts and it lasts for awhile Before Tony comes out on top winning as he sucks in big breaths of air as he's handed a wad of cash which he pockets and wipes some of the blood away that's running down his face from his nose. Tony grabs his jacket and goes back to his place Friday eager to see him runs over to him meowing as he leans down to pet her before yawning and wincing in pain as he heads to the shower to clean up before he treats the injuries he's picked up along the fight which weren't to bad. After treating his wounds Tony stares at himself in a full length mirror lost in thought as one of his hands softly roams his body taking everything from the scars to the tattoos he's collected over time none of them had a deep connection to him but they all held a connection that was worth the pain it caused. The Icarus on his back is connected to his curiosity biting him back at such an early age, on his left forearm Vegvisir the old viking compass surrounded by runes that connects to two ravens and the life tree showing him that time passes but he'll always find home, on the right forearm a running sequence of a wolf running sketched out showing his true nature, in the center of his upper chest is an ink brushed zen circle a remind to think and cool down. The there is the left outer upper left arm a oni's head sits with whisking smoke to remind him of what he can be, his right thigh holds a medusa surrounded by rose a tribute to Maria before she even died and finally on his right upper outer arm is two hands reaching for each other but one of the hands is just bone showing what he does.

Giving up Tony flops onto the bed and crashes hoping to sleep off this feeling which he does manage to do for the most part and over the weekend between the check in's Tony tries to go about life like he did before all this SHIELD stuff which does help him level his head and cool down. A week passes before a knock on his door breaks his concentration he was using to clean the rifle in front of him after a moment of thinking Tony gets up and moves over to the door cracking it open only to roll his eyes and open it fully as he sees Nick standing there waiting for him to open the door.


	6. Dorms

Before Tony can say anything Nick walks past him and into the room taking a seat on one of the chairs as Friday jumps into his lap for pets making Tony roll his eyes again before closing the door and moving back to his own seat and picking back up cleaning the rifle waiting for the man to speak first. 

"You look better" Nick says and he does

"Could say the same about you but i'd be lying" Tony retorts but it doesn't faze the man

"Training starts this week, you'll be watching with me" Nick tells him not leaving room for arguments 

"Sounds fun" Tony drawls sarcastically 

"I'll do my best" Nick smirks making Tony stare at him unimpressed "Monday morning nice and early kiddo" 

As Nick leaves Tony is tempted to just do something but resits and goes on to clean his entire collection to waver off some of the frustration he's feeling, so what if he's bad with people and wants nothing to do with these other kids and projects it's not like he needs any of this he's fine on his own. That night Tony doesn't feel like being stuck up alone in his apartment so he ventures out ending up in the twins apartment since they moved out of the one their parents still live in and the trio end up talking and drinking all night as more people ended up coming over like Feng and Fan, Akko and Ra. Unluckily for him it was Sunday so when he's woken up early the next morning somehow back in his own room by an agent he's less than pleased but rather than making this harder than it could be he complies getting dressed in Army uniform pants untucked, his combat boots and a black tee under an oversized black hoodie grabs his stuff and follows the agent out with Friday following him of course. He's driven back to SHIELD where he's walked to an indoor arena and onto some steel bleachers next to Nick who was over seeing the others training, Tony sits down next to the man and hunches over to pet Friday better rather than watch the others and luckily his hood is up so the lights aren't in his eyes. 

"I found Pepper" Nick says after a few minutes

"So have I" Tony says rolling his eyes

"Yeah but I contacted her" Nick counters and Tony makes a face

"Why would you go and do that" Tony huffs 

"You'd listen to her better" Nick shrugs and it's true that girl really reminded him of his mothers both of them

"She doesn't need to be dragged into this" Tony snaps he hasn't seen her in years and doesn't want her dragged down with him

"She says otherwise" Nick tells him

"Of course she does that doesn't mean she has to" Tony argues annoyed

"I gave her a choice, that's more than you ever did" Nick says glancing down at him from the side of his eye

"I did what was right!" Tony snarls loudly jumping up

"Like I care" A woman's voice snaps from behind him

"Pepper" Tony breathes out slowly looking behind him

Standing behind him on the ground with her hands on her hips was Pepper. The sixteen year old was shorter than him by a couple of inches with waist length straight strawberry blonde hair and fair freckled skin with huge blue eyes, thin toned small hourglass shape covered by her clothes, a plaid blue tennis skirt with a white tee tucked in and sheer black thigh high socks under grey lita boots.

"You're so mean" Pepper snaps at him eyes watering 

"Pep, you shouldn't-" Tony starts to say worried coming down to stand in front of her

"Don't say that!" Pepper shouts at him angrily

"It's not safe" Tony argues with her

"I'll show you not safe" Pepper snaps throwing a punch he just misses

"Pepper wait" Tony says fighting a smile as he retreats 

"I'm gonna kill you" Pepper snaps running after him 

"Pepper light of my life" Tony tries dodging a rubber sword she throws at him

"Don't even try it" Pepper growls at him keeping toe to toe with him now that they stand face to face

"I missed you" Tony says with a smile parrying every move she makes against him and she's good in hand to hand thanks to taking classes

"You wouldn't if you weren't an ass" Pepper huffs with a glare as he catches her round house kick

"Oh come on Pep" Tony whines letting her leg go but the smile hasn't budged 

"You jackass! You left without a word ten years ago!" Pepper shouts angrily at him throwing another punch grazing the side of his head

"I wasn't exactly doing good things" Tony huffs with a roll of his eyes and a block to another punch

"That's not an excuse" Pepper snaps sending a push kick at his chest

"No it's not" Tony agrees sliding to the side and gently using her own motion to put her down on the ground in a split

"That's not fair" Pepper say moving to kick out his feet sending him into a split as well

"Is this how we're gonna talk now?" Tony huffs arms crossed over his chest facing her in a side split

"That's enough children" Nick says offering Pepper a hand

"I should get at least one hit in" Pepper huffs accepting the hand to get up

"I'll buy you new shoes" Tony says getting up himself

"Hello again Ms. Potts" Phil says walking up with a smile

"And you" Pepper says swirling around on Phil

"I was told not to tell you" Phil says holding up his hands 

"And when have you followed orders like that" Pepper huffs arms crossed over her chest

"Feisty as always" Tony hums happily pulling her against him in a hug

"Did you bring her here?" Phil asks his boss with a tired look

"She came all on her own all I said was that he'd be here today" Nick says smirking 

"Well aren't you productive" Tony says pushing back her hair as he smiles down at her even though she's still facing the older men

"Sir?" Someone asks who turns out to be Steve 

"Ah Rogers come meet Virginia Potts" Phil says moving aside to reveal the girl

"Nice to meet you, i'm Steve Rogers" He says a little awkward

"Pepper" She says as the rest of the group come over

"And why is Pepper here?" Sam asks Phil who looks at Fury

"Pepper is gonna play buffer so I can go back to work" Nick says and promptly leaves before anyone can object

"Anyway, Pepper meet the rest of the unit" Phil says moving on

"You've met Rogers" Steve is maybe six foot with pale fair skin with a muscular dorito shaped body with short straw blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he's wearing navy military pants with black combat boots and a tight navy tee with SHIELD written across the back in big bold gold letters.

"This is Natasha Romanov" Natasha is about 5'6 with a toned slim curvy body of pale skin with long red hair that turns to blonde at the bottom and bright green eyes, she's wearing black leggings with patches of mesh and a grey SHIELD tee with black combat boots and her hair is in a long braid.

"Bruce Banner" Bruce is about 5'8 with a mop of light brown curly hair and thin black rimmed glasses over timid brown eyes with fair skin and a toned stockier build, he's wearing navy military pants with grey combat boots and a loose white SHIELD tee and has contacts in as well.

"Clint Barton" Clint is about 5'8 with a toned stockier build of pale skin with short messy dirty blonde hair and cool brown eyes, he's wearing grey combat pants with black combat boots and a loose SHIELD black tank top from what once was a tee but had it's sleeve cut off and stretched.

"Sam Wilson" Sam is about 5'9 with a lean muscular body with dark brown skin and short black hair with light brown eye, he's wearing navy military pants with black combat boots and a navy SHIELD issued tee just like Rogers but his shirt sin't as tight.

"James Barnes" Bucky is about six one with fair skin and a muscular dortio shaped body with a full metal left arm and shoulder length brown hair with pale ice blue eyes, he's wearing black military pants with black combat boots and a black SHIELD tee with his hair tied half up.

"And Laura" Who had been sitting on the ground by the training course with a clip board taking notes. She's about Pepper's height 5'5 ish and thinner with pale rosy skin and long blonde hair with big blue eyes, she's wearing a black plaid tennis skirt with a white baggy long sleeve that has black sleeves and a pair of black ankle boots.

"Everyone this is Pepper an old friend of Tony's" Phil says finishing up the introductions

"Another girl" Laura says happily smiling at Pepper

"I hope i'm not going to be a problem" Pepper say mostly at Phil

"You are far from a problem" Phil tells her in almost a sigh of relief

"You're right he's the problem" Pepper says rolling her eyes at Tony who has yet to let her go 

"You can carry on, I think we're just watching today" Pepper says pulling out of the hug to push Tony backwards until he's sitting on the bleachers again laughing at her

"She's right let' get back to work" Phil says walking back as the group slowly turn and follow

"It's weird" Clint mutters as Pepper scolds Tony with one knee resting on his thigh 

"Maybe but I think it's nice" Bruce says quietly as Tony keeps smiling even though she's serious

After a good scolding Pepper sits down on the bleachers one row up right behind Tony and gets to know Friday as the two catch up on everything they've missed out on during their time apart. He hasn't smiled and laughed this much in awhile and it's starting to hurt but he's happy he can't be bothered by it instead soaks in Pepper and her entire being, memorizing her face and body, her touch, her voice, her smell, every little detail. Half way through the very long training session Pepper grows board and begins to go from fun to annoying as she begins to bug him for something to do and then an idea pops into her head and since it is training he should at least do a little right? After a few minutes of pestering Pepper manages to get him moving pulling off his hoodie letting rest on the bleachers for Friday to use and gets down on the ground for push ups with a roll of his eyes. After a few push ups Pepper feels it's too easy for him so quietly she stands over him and when he's on the ground she lays down on top of him before he can push up and of course he curses her out but keeps going as she kicks up her feet resting her heels on her butt and arms crossed across his shoulder blades.

"Fucking Hell Pep" Tony snaps pushing up as she lies down and gets settled 

"Didn't seem like training" Pepper says close to teasing him

"I didn't come here to train" Tony grumbles but he keeps going

"But that's not fair" Pepper teases poking his cheek

"Fuck fair I don't even want to do this stupid program" Tony grumbles at her

"You'll like it" Pepper tells him resting her head on her crossed arms

"How do you know?" Tony snaps not at her but still snaps

"Because Nick is making it and he came to me in person asking for help" Pepper tells him and that makes Tony blink almost freezing in shock

"I'm sorry what?" Tony asks slowly pushing down then back up

"Yep said he knew it was overdue but he's found you and he's put you in a program and that all I had to do was say the word and he'd bring me to you" Pepper says as he goes back to push ups thinking over her words

"Well isn't that nice of him" Tony huffs annoyed

"Isn't it" Pepper hums back

"Whatever" Tony says rolling his eyes sweat dripping off him now not a lot but it's there

"Let me sleep over" Pepper says and Tony huffs a laugh

"I'm serious" Pepper pouts 

"Or I could just stay in the dorms like Nick offered" Pepper says thinking it over

"Absolutely not" Tony says shaking his head

"Then let me stay with you" Pepper says rolling her eyes

"Can't you get a hotel?" Tony whines laying flat on the ground done with doing push ups

"I'm not turning down an offer" Pepper chides him 

"Why are you being so difficult" Tony groans running a hand through his hair making it slick back a bit with sweat

"You could stay in the dorms with me" Pepper offers slyly walking her fingers over his shoulder and onto the ground by his face

"This was his plan all along wasn't it" Tony sighs annoyed

"What plan?" Pepper asks innocently 

"Fine you win" Tony says face in his hands 

"So where we staying?" Pepper asks satisfied 

"Don't make me say it" Tony grumbles pouting a bit

"I'll let Nick know" Pepper says patting his shoulder before she gets up and grabs her phone

"Something tells me he agreed" Phil says smile in his voice and face as he walks over

"Of course he did" Pepper giggles at the prone body on the ground sulking 

"Agreed to what?" Laura asks as the others come over curious 

"Staying in the dorms with Pepper here" Phil says laughing as Tony gives him the middle finger

"Congrats" Clint says offhandedly 

"Should we go pack up then?" Pepper says getting up and walking off

"Pack?! Pepper!" Tony shouts jumping up grabbing his hoodie and chasing after her

"Oh dear" Phil sighs with a smile as he walks the pair run off

Tony catches up to her by Nick's office somehow she had managed to stay just out of reach until then when he finally catches her and of course she's laughing since someone had already gone to get his things for him but he still wanted to protect her even if someone hadn't gone to get his things. The pair end up waiting in the lunch room of the base with some food and drinks after a long tiring couple of hours, Pepper's bags were already sent to the dorm before she even got here having handed them off the an agent while another brought her here and while he isn't surprised by her commanding of power it was still a bit of a surprise. The pair of course won't really be sharing a room but their rooms will be right beside each other and they'll have access to the others as part of the deal Pepper had made with Nick and Phil for helping out and of course she just wanted to be able to be with him more. 

Each floor minus the main floor has four rooms so the second floor has Steve, Phil, Bucky, and Clint while the third floor has Sam, Natasha, Bruce and Laura which means on the fourth floor is just Tony and Pepper for the time being. After awhile the pair with Friday begin making their way back to the dorm and when they get outside they decide to wait a bit as no one else seemed to around and it felt weird going in alone so they wait outside as Tony squats down and lights up which makes Pepper roll her eyes at him. She spend the time practicing her ballet just little things like a tiny concert for Tony and when she spots Phil coming down she grabs Tony's hand and tries to pull him but he doesn't really budge and laughs instead because he's pulling back just enough to make it annoying for her. Pepper gives him a look and he gets up to stomp out the cigarette which gets him a hum of approval as Phil walks up alone seems like the others will be back later so they head in and up to their new rooms to unpack or at least for Pepper to unpack her stuff and then get annoyed and unpack his stuff.

By the time the rest of the team gets home Tony and Pepper's rooms are made up and they're laying down on Tony's bed, Tony is resting on his back an arm thrown over his eyes the other on Pepper's waist and one leg bent up while Pepper lays on top of him her own legs between his and stomach on his stomach reading a book. She's changed out of her shoes, skirt and tee swapping them for a sweater oversized enough to pass as a dress and short hidden underneath it with her hair partly tied up. It may look like they're lovers but they are really just friends it's just that Tony is a very touchy person and loves to be touched it really works on calming him down even if he's picky about who gets to touch him which is normal. Pepper is flipping a page over when Phil peeks his head in which she takes as the others are back and it might get noisy now so she smiles and waves him in;

"You look tired" Phil says leaning in the doorway

"It's been a long day" Pepper agrees with a small sigh

"I can bring food up if you want?" Phil offers not wanting to push anything

"I'm alright, be good to actually talk to the others" Pepper says with a small laugh

"Alright let me know if you change your mind" Phil tells her before heading back down

"I'll be fine" Pepper says feeling Tony's fingers twitch on her waist 

"Still don't like it" Tony grumbles sliding his arm off his eyes to look at her groggily 

"Of course you don't" Pepper says patting his cheek "I'll be back"

Pepper gets up to put her book back into her room before heading downstairs where Phil, Bruce and Laura are in the kitchenette making food and the others are lounging in the open living space with the TV on, she makes her way to the kitchenette island and takes a seat on one of the bar stools. Laura spots her and comes over, like Pepper she's changed into a pair of pink leggings and a pale pink hoodie crop top, she sits down on the stool next to her and pulls out her phone setting it down on the island.

"It's gonna be great having you here" Laura says happily

"I think I can see why" Pepper says since Laura is the only one not on the unit and one of two girls

"So what do you like to do?" Laura asks her 

"I like ballet, reading, MMA, swimming, gardening, managing, stuff like that" Pepper lists off a little shyly 

"That's cool" Laura says encouraging

"What about you?" Pepper asks making Laura flush a little

"Well I like ballet too, reading, piano, swimming, organizing, stuff like that" Laura tells her

"Do you know any self defense or martial arts?" Pepper asks

"A little but not like any of you guys" Laura says shaking her head

"I was like that too but then Tony up and vanished and I needed a way to get it out" Pepper huffs

"That must have hurt" Laura sympathies 

"It did but look at what he does, what he is, I know he did it with good intentions so" Pepper sighs 

"I get it" Laura says sighing herself looking around her

"Do you have a place outside of this stuff?" Pepper asks after a moment

"Kind of my parents live in Japan currently for work and didn't make a whole lot of friends before taking on this 'job'" Laura explains

"Don't see why not" Pepper tells her

"I fit in better when I was in Japan you know like those girls in the manga's didn't translate well when I came back to the states" Laura huffs fidgeting with her long pink manicured nails

"Well I think you're perfect" Pepper says proudly

"Thanks" Laura says ducking her head as she flushes

"I'll tell you a secret" Pepper says quietly leaning in close

"Okay" Laura says leaning in

"I'm not dating Tony but I don't think that's a secret, being here is really nice and I hope we get along well" Pepper says sweetly

"Jeez" Laura says lightly smacking Pepper's shoulder "I think Natasha has a thing for you though" She whispers into the other girls ear

"Dinners ready" Phil announces

They eat quietly as a group of teens can and Phil asks if he should get Tony a plate but Pepper says he wouldn't eat it so not to bother setting anything aside for him and waves off his concern saying he'll eat eventually when he's out and not to take it too seriously. After they eat Pepper offers to help with the dishes and clean up but they had it covered so she heads back upstairs where she finds Tony sitting on the edge of the bed slumped forward combing his fingers through his hair. Friday meows walking over to her bumping into her legs demanding to be pet which she gets before Pepper moves over to the bed and sits down beside him tucks her feet up under her and loops her arms around his waist resting her head on his shoulder.

"How was dinner?" Tony asks her 

"Not bad actually" Pepper tells him

"Phil asked if you would want any but I told him you wouldn't eat it" Pepper relays to him

"Don't trust it" Tony mutters dropping his hands down to pet the cat at his feet

"I know" Pepper assures him "I should bring Apollo over one of these days" Mentioning her Malamute

"How's his leg?" Tony asks remembering he's missing a front right leg

"Good but the arm you built him needs an upgrade and some maintenance done" Pepper explains happy he remembers 

"Ask agent then" Tony tells her

"Come with me" Pepper says smiling getting up to pull him up

"Why can't you do it alone?" Tony grumbles but lets her pull him up

"Better chances" Pepper says rolling her eyes

"Fine" Tony sighs following her out

"Agent Coulson!" Pepper calls sweetly as they head done the stairs 

"Can I help the two of you?" Phil asks happy to see Tony emerge 

"I hope so" Pepper says sugar coating her words

"Just ask him already" Tony says hands in his pockets 

"Fine. I have a dog at home and i'd like to bring him over for a visit so Tony can take a look at the leg he built him" Pepper explains with an eye roll

"Built an arm?" Clint asks not even pretending to not be eavesdropping

"Yep one like Barnes has over there" Pepper points out with a long french manicured nail

"Can't we just go to your place?" Tony sighs already over it

"Nick said no" Pepper chides spinning to face him seriously 

"I don't see why not" Phil says drying off his hands with a tea towel

"Yay, thank you agent" Pepper chirps happily 

"I'm sorry but how?" Bruce asks shyly but his eyes are shining

"You don't know?" Pepper asks confused

"No they don't" Tony says pushing her up the stairs 

"Fine keep your secrets" Pepper huffs rolling her eyes

"Sir?" Steve asks 

"I'm sure you'll find out soon" Phil simply says going back to whatever he was doing


End file.
